What makes him tick
by Katie237
Summary: What if a metahuman decided to capture and kill Barry in front of his friends. That's all under Zoom's order, right? What if there's more to this? What if Barry is still alive and suffering while everyone else is too busy grieving to search for him. AU right before the ending of 2x04, before King Shark and Wells shows up.
1. Gone

**Autor's Note: This is my first Flash fanfiction and my first fiction in english, so try to be nice guys! Also note that english isn't my first language, but I think me and my amazing friend (who corrected my grammar mistakes) did great at it!**

 **Let me know what you think and if you want more! It's happening somewhere toward the end of episode 2x04, after FIRESTORM left town, but before the attack of King Shark. So yes that mean it's before Harry meet the team, but he might very well make an apparence. Stay tuned!**

* * *

''No…please…no! Stop! Don't do it…please…PLEASE!''

They couldn't move, they couldn't blink, they couldn't breathe. The Flash team felt like time was frozen as their watched, helplessly, their best friend's distress on the screen. Jay felt rage trying to take over his body, he was shaking from it, he needed to do something, to sprint over and punch the person responsible for what was happening.

But he couldn't. Dammit, he couldn't! Not without his powers.

He couldn't see either how pale Caitlin was, even if she was standing next to him, barely a few inches away. Silent tears on her cheek. Cisco had his arm around her shoulder, knowing it wouldn't change anything. Not with the image of Barry crying, bleeding, pleading to have his life spared right in front of them. Or at least, on the screen in front of them. There were cuts, ecchymosis and blood all over his face, not to mention the blood popping on his white and blue shirt. More than that, the more worried part was the way Barry was pleading for his life. It took more than one hit, big ones, since he put on the uniform, bigger ones than the visible injuries his friends could discern on the screen. What have this women did to him in less than 12 hours to make him so fearful, to put him in so much pain leave him pleading and sobbing?

"Let him go!", Joe screamed right next to Cisco, hitting the cortex's work station in front of him.

No matter how much trouble Barry always seemed to put himself into, he always ended up fine. There have always been a way out. But now, everyone in the lab felt their blood run cold. Something was telling them there wasn't a way out this time.

The captor on the screen only smiled, playfully stepping on front of the chair where a desperate Barry was sitting, moving a sharp knife in front of the camera. Caitlin threw a desperate look at her tech friend. This seemed to quick start Cisco into action. He made the step in needed to go back in his chair. Maybe, just maybe, he could find a solution this time…

Or maybe not. Without adding one single word, the woman with short dark hair sliced Barry's throat open. Effectively freezing Cisco in his track, his hands stopped over the keyboard, his eyes widening in shock and horror. Joe felt his legs going weak, gripping the desk to keep himself from failing. He couldn't detach his eyes from the screen. He barely even heard the cry of horror and despair Caitlin made. Of course the captor made sure to move out of the way to let everyone see every detail of their best friend, their family, dying in front of them.

Caitlin felt herself go weak. What was wrong with her? It's not like blood bother her usually, she's taken care of more wounds last year that she could count. But this? It made her stomach feel sick, made the colors leave her cheeks, her thoughts leave her head, and everything slowly go blank.

''Caitlin!''

It was Jay's calling that took them all out of their stance. The ex-speedster may not have his speed anymore, but he still had pretty good reflexes, good enough to catch a glimpse of Caitlin rolling her eyes and quicky starting to move toward the ground. The Crimson Comet barely had time to react and grab her, right before her head could touch the ground.

Slowly, Caitlin felt her senses coming back to her. She was disoriented, to say the least. She couldn't remember going to sleep, which day it was, where she was. Shouldn't she be going to work by now? What time was it?

She tried opening her eyes. That was a bad idea. She blinked at the light that blinded her. She blinked a few times to clear her view and let her eyes adapt, took her a couple of seconds to notice the shape that was standing next to her and notice where she was. Star Labs. The med bay at Star Labs.

''Caitlin? Caitlin? Can you hear me?'', that was definitely Cisco's voice. And that was definitely him who was standing next to her bed.

''You back with us?''

She knew that second voice. She slowly turned her head to see Jay walking into the room.

''Think so'', she answered. Her brain was trying to figure the last thing that happened before…before whatever went down to get her in that bed.

''What happened? I made this dream, nightmare. Barry was…''

She stopped in her track. Cisco and Jay just exchanged looks. That look, both of them bitting their lips. And it hit her. That moment in the lab hadn't been a dream, but Caitlin still needed confirmation, for some reason.

''Barry's gone right?''

''I'm really sorry Caitlin''Jay answered. What else was he supposed to say?

Earth 2.0 Flash desperately look at Cisco for help. Cisco was clearly in the same state, lowering his head to avoid eyes contact with both his friends. Were they supposed to say it was gonna be ok, that everything was gonna be fine? It wasn't. And it wouldn't be.

The young doctor turned her head to face the wall to relieve herself from the tears that've been threatening her eyes without people around seeing it. She needed to be strong, she's always been strong. Swallowing her pain, she turned around and slowly pushed herself to sit on the end, grateful for the hand on her back helping her. Looking around the whole room for the first time since waken her and it suddenly hit her.

''Where's Joe?'

''He left to tell the news to Iris, he needed to do it in person'', answered Cisco.

''What about Stein and Jax?''

Cisco looked down at his feet for a second before answering, looking embarrassed.

''We didn't call them yet. It's like it's not…like it's not real, yet. You know?'

Caitlin nodded, she got it. Her brain was trying to put all the pieces together. Part of her thought was still working on the realization that she wasn't dreaming. She sat at the edge of the bed, getting up before Jay or Cisco could react. It was probably a bad idea to get up so fast 'cause dizziness came back so fast she barely had the time to grab the side of the bed to stay on her feet, but not even that made her stop or change her mind.

''it's ok, I'm good'', Caitlin said while pushing Jay and Cisco's helping hands that came to her.

She steadied herself and made her way into the cortex, freezing for a second, seeing every second of what happened earlier replaying in a head like a movie. A noise interrupting her thought. She turned around to see Joe entering the cortex.

''Did they found a…..him yet?''

Joe sadly looked up and didn't say anything. Cisco stayed during all this time in the medical room, but didn't miss a thing of everything that was happening around him. He was trying as hard as he could to act strong, on the outside at least, but inside he felt he was breaking up.


	2. Test 4

**A/N: Wow! Thanks for the amazing reviews everyone! To thank you I'm sending you already this second chapter. Chapter 3 is going well and hopefully you'll have it next weekend.**

 **The flash addict: Sorry about that, chapter 2 was already pretty much done yesterday :( But don't worry Iris is coming to the fic in the next chapter.**

 **SnowyDove** **s: Who doesn't miss him? Our poor baby Jay.**

 **Lila: Me? heartless? Yeaahh...possibly. No regret! But remember there's 'comfort' in a hurt/comfort category. Keep a candel burning for our Barry and I'll think about sparring his life!**

* * *

One day. A whole day. That was the time that passed since Barry went away. More precisely, 31 hours, 12 minutes and 37 seconds. What was the minimum time for the pain to get better, how many weeks, months, years? If every day was like the last one, nobody at Star Labs could imagine what the others days would be like.

Jay didn't know how to feel about everything happening. The first couple of days at Star Labs had been rough, but he was slowly starting to feel like part of the team. Not to mention getting fond of the kid. But he wasn't anywhere close to Barry than the rest of his friends, his team. Maybe he should go back home to have a better chance to catch Zoom now that Flash of Earth 1.0 was gone. Right now, he was making sure to let Barry's friends some space to work everything in their heads. They needed each other.

Joe went to the police station as usual in the morning. Hard to tell if he went to go burry himself in work or just to try find the body to get some closure. Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to find who did this. But chances are, if the person who killed Barry was sent by Zoom, they were probably gone from their world by now. Joe still had to tell anyone at the police station. Right now, the official story was that Barry was out of town to visit a friend. Or that's what Joe told the captain. He didn't have the heart to tell the truth, not yet, even to his new partner Patty. He just felt that girl was attracted to his son and he couldn't bear to tell her what happened to him. He was barely able to keep the appearances up in the station.

Not to mention, somehow, a part of him was trying so desperately to hang on to hope. Barry was always fine, no matter the situation. And as long as they didn't found a body, he could still be alive, right?

He did come back to Star Labs earlier for a quick stop, a really quick one. He was there for couple of minutes before the detective got a phone call from Patty. No matter what it was couldn't have been good because his whole body tensed and he closed his eyes tight before leaving in a hurry. Without saying a word.

That happened one hour ago, more or less. Now it was only Cisco and Caitlin sitting in the cortex, behind their computers. Sitting in silence. Their looks moving between black computers screens or just looking at nothing, or simply at an invisible spot in the room. Nobody was looking at the mute news on the farthest screen on the left. None of them daring to look at the Flash suit still hanging, empty, at the back of the room. It was finally Cisco's voice that broke the long silence.

'What are we doing here?'

'What do you mean?' Answered Caitlin.

The young engineer didn't want to talk about the elephant in the room, but the issue needed to be addressed.

'Here, at S.T.A.R. Labs. What are we still doing here?''

He was right. They lost Ronnie little over 6 months ago and while the pain was strong and still is from time to time, the earth kept turning and they got the Flash team back together to fight crime. They find a way to keep the Firestorm legacy going, they found someone else to put on the costume and the name. But what about The Flash?

What about them? They can't fight the good fight anymore. Unless Jay get his powers back? But he would need to return to his home, he had his own world to protect. For a second, Cisco thought about his powers, his vibrations powers. Maybe, just maybe, he could found a way to use them to help people. But…

'Oh my god….'

Cisco quickly turned his head to try understand why he heard thess words. It hit him like a runaway train. Right there, on tv, on the news: 'Boy found in the lac'. That was it. End of story. No fairytale ending. Not that there was much of a doubt left after the video they saw. But still, why not dare to hope for miracle? Caitlin shoulder started to shake and he put his arm around her.

That explained Joe leaving in a hurry. He certainly wasn't coming back anytime soon, if ever. Why would he? After the longest of silence, both scientists decided in a silent agreement to get up and leave. Not knowing if they themselves would ever be coming back. Cisco was the last one to leave. He stopped at the door and slowly turned around, looking one last time at the lab before turning the lights off and leaving. He was gonna need to come back for the suit, but he didn't care too much about it right now.

Somewhere else, in a dark, humid and cold room, there was a shape tied up in a chair. A shirtless, bloody, shape. The shirtless, bloody, shape of Barry Allen. The speedster had his head resting on his chest and he wasn't moving. Unless the regular rising of his chest counted as moving.

A tall, muscular, woman entered the room, syringe in her hand and smile on her face. Without hesitation, she grabbed her captive's hair and pulled his head back. The sudden and rough movement caused Barry to groan and his eyes to move under his eyelids. He was fighting hard to open his eyes, but there were so heavy. The fact that one of them was heavily swollen wasn't helping there.

'Wakie wakie sunshine. The party's just getting started...'

She gave her captive couple of seconds to react, but seeing he was losing his fight to full consciousness, she simply shrug her shoulders.

'Time for test #4.'

Without waiting one more second, she sticked the needle into Barry's open neck.


	3. Found and lost again

**A/N: Thanks again for your comments! I'm still waiting about the finals comments from my friend who look at my grammar but I'll gonna take a chance to send it to you anyway because you guys are so great. I hope it's not too bad. I'll update it later once I receive the corrections.**

 **SnowyDoves: Don't be so hard on yourself! Sure it was still good. And it's my first Flash and english fiction (my first language is french), but it's not my first story.**

 **Silver's Dream100 : I love your theory! All I can say is that all of you know the answer to that double Barry mystery.**

* * *

The ringing of his cell phone was the sound that woke Cisco up. Still half asleep, he searched for his phone with his eyes closed, searching it with his hand, hitting the wrong spot couple of times before touching his target. He barely opened his eye to look at the clock: 7am. That was too early. He couldn't remember yet what happened last night, only that he felt like someone who didn't sleep much. Was he drinking with Barry and Caitlin last night?

'Hello'' he answered with his sleepy voice.

'Cisco! Please come, he's…he's …'' The distress, the pain, the tears in Iris' voice woke up totally this time. He sat up on the end in one quick movement.

'Iris! What's wrong?'

He could hear her crying, barely keeping it together at the other end of the line.

'It's Barry…he's…oh god'

She couldn't keep talking, sobbing. Every memory of the last few day came back.

'Iris! Talk to me. Where are you?''

'At S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry's bod…it's here. In…in…cortex…Oh my god'

Cisco was already jumping out of bed and starting to get dressed.

'Stay with me, alright? Are you alone?'

He waited for a long time, hearing her trying to get her voice back into control.

'Yes'

'Alright, get out of the room and call Joe. I'm coming. I'll be there in less than 10 minutes. '

Cisco didn't even remember getting out of his bedroom and leaving his apartment. He found himself in front of his building before he knew what was happening, waiting. He didn't have to wait long until Caitlin's car pulled over in front of him. Her hairs all undone, going in all directions, dressed in jean and a hoodie. Who would've guessed she even had that in her closet? She clearly just took the quickest thing she could get her hands on.

Couple of minutes later they finally arrived at the lab. They arrived to a heartbreaking scene outside the cortex; Joe holding his crying and shaking daughter as tight as he could, having himself his eyes full of tears. Neither of them noticed the new arrival until Cisco gently putted his hand on Joe's shoulder. The detective looked up with the look of a destroyed man, a man who lost everything.

The engineer and Caitlin exchanged a look, before slowly approaching the door to take a sneak peek at the Cortex. Not really wanting to see what was in there, but knowing they needed to do it for Joe and Iris' sake. The first thing they noticed was a blanket on the ground covering the shape of a body, Second thing; Jay was back and was kneeling next to the blanket.

Caitlin needed to be sure. She slowly approached the covered body and reached it with shaking fingers. She revealed enough to get a glimpse at the dead, bloody, beaten face. It was enough to make her stomach turned and felt last night diner coming back with a revenge. Keeping everything in, she let go of the blanket like it was burning her.

Jay helped her get up and get how of the room with everyone else. They all needed to take a breather.

The long silence was finally broken after…who knows how much time passed? Time seemed broken since that fateful morning.

'Iris', started Cisco, 'what were you doing here?'

Iris moved away from her dad, getting a grip on herself for the first time since she discovered the body,

'You guy weren't answering on your phones, I wanted to know how you guys were. I'm sorry I let you down for so long. I know it's hard for you too.'

'Don't worry about that' answered Caitlin, putting a supportive hand on her friend's shoulder.

Iris looked about to say something when she was cut by Cisco's voice:

'But, I gotta ask, how is it even possible? I mean, the cops found his…him, in the river yesterday right?''. He was looking directly at Joe for that question.

'Yeah, sorry about that. It wasn't him in the river. It was another young man. But I was too disturbed and exhausted, I came home directly after that.'

Alright, but how did Barry's dead body ended in the cortex?

 ***FLASHFLASHFLASH***

Barry scream filled the room as a knife buried itself in his thigh without any warning. Not that he was expecting any after more than 2 days of torture. Or was it experience? Hard to tell the difference since his captor was barely speaking with him.

'Let's see how long it takes to heal this time.'

Barry's captor smiled as she slowly turned the knife in his leg. Annoyed by the unstopped screaming, she slapped the speedster as hard as she could. It worked, the screaming stopped, but a silent tear appears and slowly made his way down Flash's bloody face. Barry tried to be strong, he did, but he couldn't. He never felt so vulnerable, so weak, so disoriented in his life. Maybe it had something to do with all the drugs in his system.

Everything was hurting and yet everything was feeling numb at the same time. He was feeling hot and yet he was feeling his body shaking, shivering.

'My fri…en…..found you'

'No they won't, they're not even looking for you'

Barry's mind froze at that answer. What was that supposed to mean? What did she do with his friends? Did she hurt Iris? Caitlin? Joe? Cisco? His body shivered again, but this time it wasn't because of the cold.

 ***FLASHFLASHFLASH***

Joe's gaze was going on and off between Jay and the corpse, between his son's corpse and Jay. They couldn't just leave it on the ground like that. Understanding the message, Jay walked back into the cortex with Joe to him. Together, they took Barry's body from the ground, leaving the blanket on, and took it in the med bay, putting it on the bed the speedster used so often in his short life as a hero.

While they were putting him down, one arm decided it was time fall on the side. Dropping out of the blanket's covert, like in a bad horror movie. Seeing it the first, Cisco was the first to reach it. He grabbed the frozen limb and was about to hide it back when he suddenly stopped moving all together.

He wasn't moving, his entire face looks like he was somewhere else. At first, Joe thought it was because of the horrible feeling of touching his dead best friend, but it was something more.

'Cisco…Cisco? Are you ok? Cisco!'

'Oh my god…Barry is alive!'

'What?!' was the answer he got from everyone in the lab.


	4. Start from the beginning

**A/N: Like I said in the first chapter, this is happening before the 2x05, so nobody knows at this point about Cisco's powers (well except Stein), so here's my take on that revelation.**

 **Like for last chapter, I'm giving it to you before to you before the final proofreader checkup, but I'll edit it when it's done**

* * *

'I just…'

Cisco stopped himself mid-sentence, realizing his mistake. He could feel every eye in the room on him as he took a few steps away from his friends, his back turned on them. Joe was the first to talk back, slowly, weighting every single one of his words and trying not to get his hopes high, only to be crushed again and yet, he had to take the bait. What if? Just, what if?

'Cisco. What are you talking about?'

'Nothing…it's…just let it...It's …'

There was no way to describe how frustrated Cisco was feeling at this moment, his fists tightly closed. He just blew out his secret, or was going to if he was to tell everyone about the vision he just had. But, how could he say nothing and stand there while his best friend might still be alive? He needed to do something. Was there another way out? A way to keep his secret and yet share the new information without raising suspicions?

The 'without raising any suspicious' was probably long gone by now. Being careful not to look anyone in the eyes, he quickly got out of the room, grazing between Joe and Jay. Jay took the first step to go after him, but Caitlin was the quickest, grabbing him by the arm.

"Let me."

She didn't even wait for Jay's nod, she just followed in Cisco's steps, getting out of the cortex and joining him in the hallway, next to the elevator.

"Cisco, talk to me"

There's nothing Cisco wanted more than to tell her everything. After all, if there was any chance that Barry was still alive, he was going to need the whole team. Here goes nothing.

"Alright." he sighed, "Remember those dreams, visions, I've been having pretty much since last year?"

"The ones where Wells…well, Reverse, kills you?"

"Yup, fun times…"

'You're having that vision again?'

Not that one exactly..." he looked down for a second, wondering what was the best way to tell her. "...So, I've started to have others in the last couple of weeks. First I had one about Atom Smasher when he attacked on Flash Day, then it was Sand Demon couple of weeks ago. I saw Sand Demon in the grow house with Patty. That's how I knew where to find them and his plan to stop Barry."

Silent took over for a moment, probably longer than either of them were comfortable with seeing as Caitlin has never been the silent type. She was usually quick at a comeback, which was why for a second or two, Cisco was afraid of her reaction. He was afraid of having his friend judge him. But how could she, when she was already friend with a man running at Mach 2 speed and a couple of people who could merge, flame up and fly?

'Cisco, are you saying you have powers?'

"I guess so." he answered uncomfortably looking everywhere except in his friends' eyes. He almost missed his supportive friend's arms wrapping around his body, pulling him into a hug.

"It's ok Cisco, we'll figure this out together."

"Thanks." he said, giving back the hug.

They slowly let each other go, but Caitlin kept her hands on her friend's shoulder.

"You should've said something earlier. Why didn't you?"

"Look," He added while getting out of her grip, "I'll explain everything later, but it doesn't matter right now. The only thing that matters now is Barry and you know, find him and bring him back.."

''Look, Cisco, I need to be honest here. You're not making any sense. ''

''I just had another vision in the lab. I need to tell everyone.''

Without any warning, he just took off, Caitlin on his heels. All doubt seem to have left his mind. He was more focus than scared. He got back to the cortex to find out everyone was staring, uncomfortably.

''You all heard everything, didn't you?''

Everyone in the room looked at each other until Iris decided to make the first move and get closer to Cisco, stepping in front of Joe and Jay.

''Cisco, why haven't you said anything before? Do you really think we would judge you?"

''Look, It doesn't matter now! What's important right now is to find Barry''

'Alright', said Joe 'Let's take a step back and slow down here. What exactly did you see?'

''I saw…Barry, but it wasn't our Barry. He was in a closed room and the woman we saw on camera entered and threw clothes at him. Barry's clothes. Telling him to put them on if he wanted to live''

Cisco could see his friends looking at each other in an uncomfortable way like he was crazy.

''Gotta be honest, you lost me, Cisco.'' Answered Jay. ''Was it actually Barry or it wasn't?''

''It was Barry, but not our Barry. If that makes sense... He was wearing my grandfather's clothes. Well, you know, not *my* grandfather. He had that old style sweater over his shirt, and a bow tie. A bow tie! Not to mention how he looked terrified to his core of being captured. I know it wasn't our Barry. And the clothes that were thrown at him were the ones Barry was wearing last time I saw him…

Jay, could it be Barry from your Earth?''

''Can't say I remember seeing Barry's doppelganger.'' Said the Crimson Comet. ''Sorry I can't be of more help. But, Cisco, how does that prove anything? Even if you're right about the identity of the person you saw…''

''I am!''

''Even if you are, how is that a proof that Barry is alive? You saw him?''

Cisco slowly, unconsciously bowed his head toward the ground, thinking hard about his vision. Almost hard enough to catch a headache. Carefully answering.

''No. But it's the only thing that makes sense.''

''Nothing make sense right now'' said Joe, talking for probably everyone else in the room.

''Think about it. If our kidnapper had Barry's clothes, the one he was wearing when he disappeared, it's because she has him too. And, why go all the trouble to find Earth 2 Barry, kidnap him too, and orchestrate all this show for his death if the only goal was to murder Flash?''

The engineer took a pause, waiting for anyone to argue back. Surprisingly, nobody did. So, he continued.

''She's keeping him alive, somewhere. She wants something out of him and while we're grieving, nobody is out there searching. The kidnapper bought herself time.''

After staying silent for the whole conversation, Caitlin decided it was time for her to jump in the conversation. She wanted to believe that her friend was alive and there was still a way, and time, to start talking about a rescue mission. But she also didn't want to give in to false hope.

''Let me get this straight: we're thinking this kidnapper is from Earth 2 right?''

She wanted for Cisco to nod before continuing: ''I thought Zoom only send the metahumans here to kill The Flash, not chitchat with him.''

''Caitlin has a point, Cisco.'' Added Jay. ''Even if all of a sudden Zoom decided he wants to…interrogate him''

He made sure not to look at Iris at this sentence. The implications of what they were discussing were starting to sink in. If they were right, if Barry was alive. It meant he's been captive and probably tortured for a little more than 2 days. Nobody was saying it, but with every passing second, someone else in the room realized it too. It was clear Iris was fighting to keep her feelings under control. Jay acted like he didn't see it and continued:

''He can ask the metahuman to take him alive and do everything he wants with him on his earth. Why bother give that job to someone else?''

'' I don't know…I don't know, ok? Yet! And while we're talking about it, we're wasting time. Let's find him and after we do, we can talk about the meaning of life and everything you want.''

This had the intended effect. Everyone stopped arguing and took one long deep breath. They needed to get and stay focused. Joe was the first one to speak again, his detective mode kicking in. Wasn't it in the job description to find people? What kind of detective was he if he couldn't find his own son?

'' Alright…let's start from the beginning. You were the last one to see him, tell us everything that happened on that night.''

Cisco took a deep breath, thinking hard about last night. He needed to get every detail right to have every chance to find Barry alive. Yes, he was alive, he had to be and they were going to find him.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry about all that talking but felt like it was necessary to go from grieving to let's solve this. Let me know what you th** ink.


	5. In the lair

**A/N: Thanks for the comments 1 Fan & KDesai! Hope I didn't put the rest of you to sleep last chapter with all the talking. **

* * *

''Well." started Cisco, ''After everything that happened in the last couple of weeks, with these Earth 2 Metas and Stein almost dying, Barry and I just felt like clearing our thoughts for one night and have some fun. We went out at that local bar near the highway….''

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

2 and a half days ago:

''You remember alcohol doesn't affect me, right?'' Barry said, looking at the shot his friend just pushed in front of him.

''Come on man! Don't be such a buzz kill, just drink'' Answered Cisco, holding his glass.

Barry just smiled and drank it with his friend. After all these stressful couple of weeks, nothing like having a night where the world doesn't depend on you. He smiled, watching his friend asked for more shots.

''Dude, take it easy with yourself, you don't want to drop halfway through the night don't you?''

''Hey old man! Let me have my fun a little would you?''

Barry laughed again, it felt good. He stretches his muscles, stretching his arms behind his back, almost hitting in the process a young man who was walking behind. Barry turned around to apologise, but that other man came to sit next to the Team Flash having a good time. That young man was in his mid-twenties, short blond hair, very tall, wearing a black t-shirt and had very muscular arms.

''Hey guys, my name's Sean'', he said. ''My friend Nick over there and I were wondering if you wanted to join us for a dart game''

Sure, why not? They had no reason to refuse a good dart challenge. It was a fun game. Competitive game, with a couple of more drinks for those who could actually enjoy it. It was a fun night, at least for the time it lasted. The Star Lab team only did one game, which at least they won by a long shot, before Cisco started to feel really tired and voiced his desire to go home.

''Who's the old man now?''Teased Barry.

''Yeah yeah, laugh all you want. Just feeling exhausted right now, not to mention that killer headache starting''.

''You sure you're ok man? Want me to get you home?''

''No, it's fine, I'll handle it. Make sure to kick their asses and tell me how it went in the morning."

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

Present time:

''And that's the last I heard or seen of Barry'', completed Cisco. ''I went home on my own and didn't get any news 'til we received that streaming 2 days ago.''

Joe has been playing with his beard for the biggest part of the story, taking in every piece of information he received. Pushing aside the thoughts that it was his son who was missing and keeping his head clear. Cisco said he left around midnight. 2 hours later, Joe was waking up on the sofa after falling asleep on it and Barry wasn't back. Eight hours later he was dead. Unless he wasn't… There was still a couple of hours for which Barry wasn't accounted for.

''Might be nothing, but something is bothering me in your story. You said you weren't feeling well and left... Were you drinking too much?''

Cisco's first thought was to defend himself, say he knew how to drink, but he closed his mouth before any word could come out. Joe might be on to something. Sure he's been drinking, but not nearly enough to get him in an instant from party mode to dead tired mode.

''I don't think so, Joe. I've had harder nights than this. But this time I felt bad, so quickly. It didn't feel like a hangover, you know? But anyway what are you telling me is that maybe someone tried to drug me? Not impossible as far as we know, but unlikely. I mean, all I had to do to get it out of my system was sleep it off. That's kind of too easy, don't you think?''

''Yeah, but you did leave Barry alone. Before he disappeared. It can't be a coincidence'', added Iris.

''Call it a hunch, but can you tell us more about that guy Sean? Anything distinctive about him? Any tattoo?''

''He did have a snake tattoo on…''

''On his left arm? A snake eating his tail?'', said Joe, completing Cisco's sentence.

''How did you….?''

''The body that was found in the lake yesterday! His description fit perfectly your story. He was definitely working with the woman who took Barry. Let me check with Patty where she is in that case.''

He walked away to make his call. The atmosphere in the lab somehow felt less heavy. No more crying, no more depressing thought of the future without Flash, no more funeral planning. Barry was still alive. They had no proof, other than Cisco's vibe, but they all knew it. They were going to find Barry and bring him home. Barry just needed to hang in there just a little longer. Everything was going to be fine. They heard footsteps and Joe reappeared in the lab a couple of minutes later.

''Alright, I told Patty to join me at the bar. We'll found every evidence there is to find. I'll have the department know Barry is missing. We'll find him. We'll found my son and we'll bring him back, I promise.''

The rest of the team looked at Joe rushing away at jogging speed. Nobody could blame him for being in such a hurry to start the missing case for Barry. They already wasted enough time. First thing first, who had enough energy to get to work? They didn't need anyone to fall over, which is something Iris was clearly about to do. She obviously barely slept in the last days, if at all. Despite being desperate to find Barry, she was quick to yield, at the condition to not stay alone. Which is why Caitlin decided to go home with her and let the boys work on the problem.

They let Cisco and Jay work on the video and see if they could find anything that could help them locate their friend.

'We will found you, hang in there Barry, hang in there'', whispered Cisco. ''Where are you man?''

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

Barry was all alone in his dark room, working hard on calming his body, calming the shakings and the uncontrolled vibrations. His captor had just left the room, or had she? How long has it been since she left him alone? It was easy to lose all notion of time in this room, without windows to see daylight. Has he been there for one day? One week? Two weeks?

His mind was getting more and more foggy. He couldn't even remember how many times his captor, this metahuman, injected him with drugs. Maybe that was what was making him so disoriented. Unless it was the hunger and dehydration. Or was it all of these above? The only thought he was trying to hang on to was his friends, his family. Where were they? He couldn't get out of his head what she said about them not even searching for them. Were they dead? Or also captive in another room? He needed to make a move and make it fast while he still had the strength to think and still had any strength left….but his remaining strengths weren't enough to escape. He struggled, in vain, once again against his restraints.

He had to resign himself, he was never going to escape on his own and if nobody was coming, he was gonna die there, alone. And probably sooner than later.

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

2 days ago:

Barry slowly woke up with one of the worst headache he had in a while. First thing he noticed was that he was tied to a metal chair with metals bounds around each of his wrists and ankles. Second thing he noticed was that his shirt was gone. And the third thing was the thing that woke him up. It was a familiar scream coming from the other room.

He tried to break free, tried to vibrate his way out, with no success. Before he had time to make a second attempt, the door in his room opened. There she was, the last vision he had before his world turned all black and he lost consciousness. That imposing woman with short hair that still had some very feminine and beautiful features under her cruel smile.

''You! What do you want from me!''

''Finally decided to wake up, speedster'', she replied slowly, ignoring the question. Her voice, her words were said in a hypnotizing tone that could've easily make most men fall for it. At least men she didn't kidnap.

''Don't worry, I'll give you all the attention you deserve as soon as I'm done with our other guest here.''

She made the last steps separating her from her captive's chair, extending her arm to touch Barry's right hand in an almost gentle way.

''For now, you just worry about resting and healing.''

''Healing?''

Sure, his head was hurting. But other than that, he wasn't feeling like he was injured. The only answer he got was a cruel smile just before she tightened her hand around two of his fingers and snapped them with one quick, loud, crack. She didn't wait for Barry to finish screaming before swiftly taking a knife out and cutting deep into Barry's left shoulder.

''That.'', she simply stated in her still, calm, voice before walking out of the room.

* * *

 **A/N: Here we go! The search for Barry is starting. Let me now what you thought!**


	6. Captive

The woman didn't come back until after the screaming in the other room subsided into sobbing, begging and then nothing. Silence. Deadly silence. She entered back the room, casually wiping her blood covered hands on her brown jacket the way normal people wipes cookie' crumbs. She approached her prey, looking down at her watch before looking at the now healed wounds.

''Impressive. All healed in less than 3 hours.''

The conversation felt badly one-sided as the woman showed no interest in even looking at her prisoner in the eyes, clearly not expecting any kind of answer about her observation.

Just like last time, she obviously didn't have any time to waste for a warning or anything like that, as she approached Barry and punched him in the face as hard as she could. She did it again before changing her target for his ribs. The Flash did his best to keep all the grunts of pain for himself. He couldn't help but let out a hiss at the last punch, hearing one of the rib crack. Hard to tell if it was broken or just cracked. Either way, it was hurting like hell.

He wanted to open his mouth and just ask why. Why was she doing this to him? He didn't know her and she still had to make any demands. Before he could, the woman took a couple of steps back, stretched her arms toward the speedster and Barry could see a flicker of electricity in her eyes right before a discharge was sent his way. He didn't have any chance to react, not that would've changed anything since he couldn't do anything, couldn't move. His head jerking back, his mouth opening, but no sound getting out.

At the first moment, for the first seconds, he felt his muscles contracting and paralysis taking over. But, it didn't take long before the pain took over and started to spread as the voltage was slowly getting higher and higher. His body started vibrating under the pressure as his heart was speeding up. It felt like the lighting all over again, but worse. Instead of one big shock strong enough to knock him out, it was high enough to cause him as much pain possible and not enough to make him pass out. Everything suddenly stopped. It left the speedster painting, his chin resting against his chest, his breathing short and harsh, his body shaking badly, fighting against the new charge.

''interesting''.

That was all she said before walking out of the room and closing the door behind. Time or never to try an escape. Who knows when she would be coming back? Barry putted every bit of his concentration on calming himself, bringing his heartbeat and breathing under control. One breath at the time. Slowly but surely, all his muscles were back under his control. Maybe if he could vibrate just at the right frequency to phase through his metal handcuffs. He already tried and failed, but maybe he just needed to try a different vibration or compensate by going faster.

Barry tried, he started vibrating faster and faster, felt like he was getting closer, so close to escape. Or maybe he wasn't.

Bad idea. What he was attempting to do was definitely a bad idea. As soon as the speedster got close to vibrating fast enough to phase, a new shock stroked the Flash, sending immediately his body into convulsion. Before Barry knew what just hit him, he was unconscious.

 ***FLASHFLASHFLASH***

The Scarlet Speedster didn't know how long he was out. He woke up with another headache. Great, just when the first one was starting to get away. Nobody thought about putting an anti-phase warning on these? Where the hell did that woman find these anti-speedsters handcuffs? Was she a rogue scientist? An ex, crazy,-Mercury lab employee maybe? He was feeling a bit sore in his back and arms, but it wasn't so bad. As long as his body was still healing, he still had a chance to live and fight another day. That was if the CSI could come up with another plan. Brute force and phasing wasn't going to get the job done. What else was there?

Speaking about fighting, the door opened again, letting in enough light to blind Barry for a second.

''Look like my little rat is awake. Let's try something a little different for test #2.''

''What do you want from me?!'' screamed the speedster, as loud as he could with his raw voice.

Was he really expecting an answer? He couldn't be, right? Despite the odds and the situation, Barry wasn't losing his fighting spirit, not yet. He struggled once again against his bounds as his captor took a syringe out of her pocket. If he was going down, he wasn't going to do it in a calm fashion. She grabbed his hair, ruthlessly pulling his head back to plunge her new weapon in his neck.

She didn't wait for her victim to feel anything before grabbing the speedster's left hand and breaking his wrist with one sharp move. Barry groaned in pain. Where were his friends? Were they coming any time soon? He had no clue what he was just injected with, but it couldn't be anything good.

He couldn't tell how much time he was lost in his thoughts, trying to stay strong and think about his friends, to avoid thinking about the pain, barely noticing that the woman was gone again. There was pain from his broken wrist, but it was more than that. As the minutes went by, there seem to be uncomfortable tremors appearing all over his body, not to mention that his throat got a lot drier since the woman left the room and not just because of the lack of water. He felt like whatever drug she gave him was affecting his connection with the Speed Force. He couldn't tell why he knew that, he just did. He put pressure on his bounds, helplessly, trying to get away from the feeling.

When she finally came back, all she did was walk right to him and tightly grabbed his wrist that was still healing. Barry had to work hard to suppress he was in pain. His injury was feeling better, but it wasn't completely healed yet. Barry looked up at her with fire in his eyes, but his captor didn't even flinch.

''Interesting…look like we're on the right track, speedster.''

She was gone again, leaving the speedster alone in his dark room, alone with his thoughts, his doubts, his fears.

 ***FLASHFLASHFLASH***

 _1 day ago:_

Barry didn't remember falling asleep, but he was going to remember waking up for some time. He woke up screaming as a knife's blade entered his shoulder in a swift and quick motion. Leaving the weapon buried in her victim's left shoulder, the attractive captor moved her body away to enjoy Barry's pain for a second with a smile on her face.

''Let's see how long it take to heal this time.''

Just like yesterday, she plunged a syringe into his neck. There's no doubt that she's been working on the serum since the last time. And whatever she did was probably going to make her proud and meet her objectives. Within seconds, Barry felt like all the oxygen leaving his lungs, he felt like someone was trying to struggle him. His blood felt like it was on fire. He was fighting once again against his restraints, he needed to escape the pain. His organs were burning from the inside. His vision was getting blurry. So, that's how drowning victims were feeling? His hands grabbing tightly the chair's armrest. When the pain subsided just enough to let him breathe again, it left him fighting for air, coughing and choking.

Today wasn't the day he was going to be allowed to rest. He was barely breathing again that he felt a feminine hand landing on his unhurt shoulder seconds before a new electric shock hit him, hard. Hard enough for his mind to almost go black and for his consciousness to almost leave him. He was barely conscious to hear the woman taking her observations out loud when everything stopped, unsure if the pain was gone or if he was just feeling too numb to feel it.

''We're making good progress; the subject is reacting slower to electricity. Let's calculate the healing time.''

She didn't wait any seconds before throwing punches, one after another, brutally, fiercely, beating him, hitting him over and over again in his face and body. There was no supressing the grunts of pain this time and the scream when one barely healed rib broke again under the brutal treatment. Blood was cascading from the stabbed shoulder down his beaten torso. If Barry wasn't busy focussing on not choking on the blood in his throat and mouth, he would've asked to stop. Instead, another vicious hit connected with his stomach, making him cough more blood. Did he bite himself without noticing it or was there some internal bleeding? Either way, there was no time to ask any question. One last furious punch on his nose put him out for the count. Unaware of all the pain.

Simply shrugging, she walked away, looking at the time on her watch. As she was passing the door and heading into the hallway, an idea stroked her. Wasn't atoms speed related to the temperature? The hotter it was, the fastest they were moving, right? What about the opposite? Making a few steps back, she turned to the heater controller on the wall, lowering the temperature by a few degrees.

The metahuman came back an hour later to check on her prisoner who was still out, she was definitely on the right track. His healing wasn't as fast as yesterday, he was getting weaker and weaker. She hoped proudly it was because of her new version of the serum. So close of figuring a way to fight speedsters. Her captive didn't even flinched when she took the knife out of the bleeding shoulder, still completely obvious to the world. For a second, the woman considered waking him up, partly because she needed to do more tests and partly because she was just feeling like punching a bit more. Just felt good earlier, feeling the bones breaking under her joints, the blood flowing. There was something so addictive and fun to it.

Deciding against it, she slowly started leaving the room. First thing first, she needed to get rid of the other body and make sure nobody was going to come looking, at least just for a couple of more days. That all the time she needed. Or maybe it was more precise to say it was all the time she had or maybe less, by looking at her prisoner. Chances are he wasn't going to hang on much longer.

Maybe it was time to pick up the pace and make some adjustments to her formula before it was too late. That speedster has been a good experiment subject. It was going to be almost sad letting him go, not to mention hard getting another one. Oh well, nothing stays forever, if something is broken you just throw it and get a new one.

* * *

 **A/N: I know it's a bit short, but don't worry next one will be longer, promise! Lots of stuff going on in the ''Search for Barry'' on Team Flash's side in the next chapter.**

 **Do you guys think it's time to free our poor Barry or he needs more pain?**

 **KDesai: Hope that was enough torture for you *wink***

 **SnowyDoves: Gonna take your ''Creepy in a sexual way'' comment about my Meta as compliment !**


	7. Searching

**A/N: Thanks RedQ, CrimsonComet and starfire25 for the comments! I'm a bit nicer to him there, but promising more hurt next !**

 **Hope the rest of you guys are still here, you're making me nervous with the big silence in the comments sections, hope this chapter will be better than the last one**

* * *

 _Present time:_

Sun was slowly getting higher in the sky as Joe made his way to the bar where his new partner Patty was already waiting for him. 56 hours, that's how long Barry has been missing, since Cisco decided to go home and leave Barry alone. Not that Joe, or anyone for that matter, blamed him. The only person who could possibly blame the engineer was the man himself, but at this moment the detective had no time to make sure Cisco was guilt free. What kind of a father, especially one that was a detective, was letting 56 hours goes by before starting a search for their son? According to Cisco's story and intuition, Barry was alive. Or at least, the woman who took him kept him that way to get information. That was a long time ago, was he still alive? Any minutes were counting now, not a single second needed to be wasted.

He already told the department that Barry's been missing and his disappearance was linked to the body they found in the water almost two days ago.

When Joe got out of his car, he found Patty hurrying her way to him, worry all over her face.

''I'm so sorry this is happening, we'll find him, Joe''

''I know we will'' he said, putting a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. Not sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. ''What do we have here? Any evidences? Security cameras caught anything?''

''We still have uniforms talking to the owner and taking a look at the security footages at the time you said Barry was here with his friend.''

As if the universe heard them, Officer Smith came out of the bar, looked around for a second and walked straight to Joe and Patty once he noticed them.

''Detectives West, Spivot, you should come see this. We spotted Allen and our suspect on the security footages.''

No need to say more, both Joe and Patty were already starting to walk toward the bar fast enough that the officer almost had to jog to keep it up. One camera was at the right angle to catch a view of most of the table the boys took that night while they were playing darts. It wasn't a perfect view, but it was good enough to confirm Cisco's story and Joe's hunch. Their suspect with the snake tattoo on his arm poured something in Cisco's drink while nobody was looking, while the young engineer was too busy throwing darts with Barry encouraging and cheering for him. It didn't take too long after that for Cisco to come back and take a couple of sips in his drink before going back to the game, but not for long. It took less than ten minutes, just enough time for the game to end, to witness Cisco leave the bar on his own.

Moments later, Barry and the man with the tattoo reappeared in front of the camera and exchanged a couple of words before they both got up and left the bar together. And, that was it. Once they were outside, they disappeared from the view, staying away from the parking camera. Joe cursed under his breath. It would've been too easy for them to stay at the right place to see what happened. Joe closed his fists tight in frustration, they were so close to finally getting somewhere, too close to go back to square one. Barely keeping control of his voice to avoid unfairly slashing out his frustrations at the officer and his partner, he spoke up:

''I need you to find every single camera in the area, traffic cameras, surveillance from the other shops. I don't care how long it take, find them!''

''Yes sir!''

Officer Smith was on the case. Patty advanced her hand toward her partner, but stopped in her movement, not sure how personal she could get with Joe and yet wanting to reassure him in any way she could.

''It's going to be ok, Joe. The whole department is working on it, the captain made it first priority.''

The detective wanted so badly to believe her, but there was a voice in his head who kept on telling him Barry was probably with Zoom on Earth 2.0 or dead in a ditch, or at the bottom of the lake where they found their first body. It's been too long already. He made sure to keep his back turned on Patty so she wouldn't see the tears in his eyes.

 ***FLASHFLASHFLASH***

Barry was shaking in the room. Shivering out of cold and fear, his body was feeling weaker and weaker. His mouth was dry, every muscle in his body was aching. Staying awake was more and more a challenge. He was starting to wonder if he let himself sleep, if he was ever going to wake up again. To be fair, if his life was destined to end there, might as well go to sleep and stop fighting, stop the pain once and for all. Before allowing himself to go under, he needed to know. Gathering some of his last strength, he was able to whisper a word, one single word.

''Why?''

''It's not personal speedster, got to do what you got to do to take down Zoom.''

The cruel smile was the last thing he saw before finally surrendering to the darkness once again. He couldn't find the strength to ask for more information. His last thoughts were about his friends, wanting so badly to tell them he was sorry for abandoning him like that.

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

Joe was about to drive himself and everyone at S.T.A.R. Labs crazy, walking around, lost in his thoughts to try putting all the pieces together. Cisco was about to comment when Joe's cell started to ring and he left the room. Patty. Good news maybe? Unless it was bad. Either way, it was news. He came back merely moments later, typing on his phone.

''Patty send me a traffic cam video, apparently they found a hit from a new camera that was installed last week. I guess our Meta didn't know about this one. Cisco, I'm transferring it to you.''

On cue, Joe's message pop-up in the mails and Cisco didn't waste any second to open it on the screen. The camera was set right on the other side of the road with a view on the bar's parking lot. With the dark and the distance, it wasn't easy to see much. But Joe could discern his adoptive son's figure everywhere and in any circumstance.

Barry and that Sean guy met a woman with dark hair who was standing with an arm on the electric pole. As soon as the boys were close to her, the other boy quickly took a couple of steps away from Barry, causing Flash to quickly look back to figure out what was happening. He must've felt something was wrong at the moment, but not fast enough to realize his life was in danger and he needed his speed. While Barry was looking back, a wave of electricity was sent in the speedster's way, shaking him all over, all the voltage coming from that woman. After the shock, the boy fell on his knees, just before Sean took him out with a quick hit on the head. Barry collapsed on the ground where he remained there, unmoving.

Aright, so definitely a metahuman, one who could control electricity. They barely finished watching the footage when the second computer popped an alert. Staying seated on his chair, Cisco slide in front of it.

''We have a match people!'' he exclaimed.

Retrieving the streaming they received of 'Barry' dying, they started a search with their facial recognition software. Her name was Amelia Wandel, a brilliant medical biologist in Keystone who was in vacation in Europe at the time the explosion happened. That was going to be hard explaining to the police how she could be Meta and yet not be there at the time of the explosion. With such a bad view, the police force might never find the identity of the woman, which would probably be best for the Earth 1 Amelia Wandel. Because there was no doubt about it now, the one who kidnapped Barry was from Earth 2.0. Only explanation.

But now that they knew her name and her power, they could track her down, right? That was what they were doing in S.T.A.R. Labs right? They never failed at this, why would they this time around? They just needed to understand their enemy well enough to figure a way to track her down and stop her. Joe didn't realize he stepped away from the computers while thinking about the new piece they just added to the whole mystery. He stopped himself and turned around to face the whole gang again:

''There's still something I don't get. We're still assuming Mrs Wandel is working for Zoom and took Barry because he's the Flash, right? How did she even know Barry is the Flash to begin with? Not like he was flashing around in that bar. How did she even know he was gonna be at the bar?''

Iris was the first one to come forward with an idea:

''Just a wild guess, but her power is electricity and she was touching the electric pole. Is it possible she could actually connect herself to the phone line and listen to the conversations?''

Iris took a pause after that sentence.

''But that's probably nut.''

''Not, it's not actually.'' Stated Cisco while starting to tap quickly on his keyboard. Only listening to the rest of the conversation with one ear.

''Seriously? A metahuman who can hack phone calls, Is it possible?'' asked Joe, looking at his scientists friends hoping one day they would actually speak English. Which was probably a wishful thinking with all the Metas around.

''Well'' started Cisco, pausing his searches for a moment. ''phone call are just our phones transforming our voices into electric impulses. So technically, it is possible. She could've been listening the lines for days or even longer just to figure out what was what and who was who. And if she was listening to my or Barry's phone on that night, she would've known where we would be.''

Pausing, Cisco went back into typing frantically at his workstation. Jay moved closer to Cisco, leaning to see what the young man was doing.

''What are you searching for, Cisco?''

''What Iris said about Wandel using the electricity made me think of when we confronted Blackout last year. He needed to recharge his battery, to feed. If she's anything like he was, she's probably staying close to an electric grid, syphoning the energy out of it.''

''That's smart Cisco'' started Jay ''but how is that going to help us find her and Barry?''

''Well, if she's feeding on electricity, I should be able to detect power surges on the electric grid of the city to track her down. Just give me time to hack into it.''

Hope. That was the feeling in the room at this moment. It seems that witch each passing moment, they were getting closer to Barry. To a rescue mission. Every eye were turned to Cisco who was trying to ignore the target, the pressure, on his back. Everyone was counting on him. His best friend was counting on him. He couldn't and he wouldn't let him down.

By the time Cisco managed to hack into the system, his body just wanted to cheer, but he didn't even had time to celebrate before his face fell and he shook his head in defeat. It took a couple of seconds for everyone in the room to catch on to his expression change.

''...nothing?'' asked Jay, in a rhetorical question.

No, nothing out of the ordinary, no big power surge in the grid, except for the one time at the bar when she took Barry.

''Sorry for the false hope…'' was all Cisco could manage to say. There was no words for his disappointment, everything made sense for just one moment. He was so sure he was seconds away from getting his best friend location. Looks like he's been wrong, again.

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

64 hours and 17 minutes since Barry was taken and waiting for the rescue. Because yes, he was still waiting, still alive. They all had to believe it. None of them had much sleep since everything started and after another defeat, another disappointment, exhaustion hit them all hard, even the girls who had a couple of hours sleep earlier. Everyone was sleeping on a chair somewhere in the vortex, except for Caitlin who fell asleep in the medical bed and Joe who was back in the streets, searching for any clues he could find. Cisco who was the last man standing. He couldn't stop and sleep or stop thinking about what they talked earlier. They were so close to cracking this case, they were missing something obvious. He could feel it, there was as close as they've ever been.

Maybe all they needed was to just take a few steps back and think all of it under a new angle. No sleep allowed until Barry's location was in their hands. That's it! Cisco jumped on his feet, pushing his chair hard enough to knock it on the ground, causing everyone in the room to jump awake. All tensed and ready to react to any threat.

''We've been looking at the problem the wrong way. We've been looking at it like she needed electricity and was using it to trace our calls…but what if it was the opposite. What if she just wants to catch the calls and electricity is just a treat?''

'Where are you going with that?'' asked Caitlin, getting out of bed and joining them in the cortex.

''I think I know where Barry is.''

* * *

 **A/N: Good news is that the next chapter's draft is going along well...the bad news is that the next couple of weeks will be crazy (in a good way!) for me and I'll barely have any time at all to even be on my computer. Don't expect the next chapter until at least the 10 to the 15th of May, I'm sorry guys.**

 **As soon as I'm free again, I'll need your comments to fuel me on my** **writing** **marathon , so don't be shy! Let me know what you thought and if you think they'll finally found Barry or if the team is up for another deception.**


	8. The Cavalry

**A/N: I'm BACK (in black!...nah just kidding, just back). Sorry if I'm late a little, I got busy catching up with all the new fics and the new episodes since I left...OMG MY FEELS WERE ALL OVER THE PLACE. I blame you RedQ for part of it!**

 **Anyway, thanks for the great comments, it did help me in my marathon. The draft for Chapter 9 is going along well. I also had a lot of time to think and plan my next fic in the loonnngggggggg 8 hours plane trip. It will be great!**

 **Guest : I'm really sorry my errors are such a turn off for you :( Feeling awful about it. Like I said in the first chapter and on my profil, I'm a french canadian and English is only my second language. I try to wait for my betareader, but sometimes she gets very busy and I get very excited about telling you the story so I send a new chapter and edit it later when I don't know how many days/weeks left I have 'til the chapter is corrected. That's what I'm doing for this one too. Some of the first chapters have already been edited, the corrected version of chapter 6-7 are coming soon.**

 **Hopefully this one is not too bad. Enjoy!**

* * *

''When I hacked into the energy grid earlier to search when and where she could be feeding on it, I was looking at the active grid. Which I didn't think would matter since we thought she was stealing enough to raise a flag. That part of the system doesn't take into account slight electricity variations in closed down or abandoned buildings, nor does it count the energy of power plant or certain call center, them being threated separately because...''

Cisco was bombarding his friends with explanations and facts, speaking fast, even for him, in a hurry to get to the point. Even then, his speech speed wasn't going fast enough. Before he could say another word, Iris interrupted him:

''Cisco! Where are they?''

''Getting to it: remember that call center that was damaged and closed after the singularity about 7 months ago? It hasn't been reopen yet and there's been power use for the last couple of days.''

''It make sense'' said Jay. ''Easy access to the lines, good hideout, access to the power...I think that's it!''

Iris almost felt like crying and she couldn't tell why. Maybe it was the happiness of them being so close or just her nerves starting to crack after all the events and emotions of the last couple of days. Keeping everything in, she frantically searched for her phone, founding it on a desk.

''I need to call my dad and tell him''

''Whoa, wait! Were you even listening?'' exclaimed Cisco in his...Cisco's way. ''I thought we just agree she could probably listen to our calls. Who knows if she' doing it right now or not. How about just call her ahead and say we're coming?''

''Sorry.''

''Don't worry about it.'' answered back Cisco. ''Stay here, we'll come pick up Joe at the station and bring Barry back home.''

''Stay here? No way! I'm coming with you guys!''

''Iris!'' intervened Caitlin, ''Chances are Barry will need urgent medical cares when we bring him back. I'll do my best to stabilize him on the transport, but I'll need someone here to get everything ready when we come back.''

No need to sugarcoat it, there were no doubt their friend was hurt, probably badly, or worse and they were going to need to be ready to react the second he was free. It was enough to get Iris to see reason and nod, lips tightly closed, staying strong and getting ready. Time to go and rescue the hero for once.

''We're coming man, just hang in there a little longer'' whispered Cisco as he walked out of the cortex behind Caitlin and Jay. He didn't necessarily mean for anyone else to hear it, but it still caused Caitlin to turn her head around at him and give a determined look. They *were* going to bring him back. Alive. Not coming back to the labs until Barry was back.

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

The team, minus Iris, arrived at the site, or at least in a back alley close to the abandoned call center, making it there in a record time after a quick stop to take Joe at the police station. Fire and determination burning in everyone's eyes. They had one shot, one chance to do this. If they were to let Mrs Wandel escape with her prisoner, they might not find her again or at least not in time for a rescue if she treated Barry only half as bad as what she did to her other victim or even her first partner in crime who ended in the water.

Joe was silent when they stopped, making sure for the 6th time his gun was full of ammos. The plan? Get in, take Amelia down one way or another, take Barry and get out. That simple. Why would it need to more complicated than that?

''You sure you won't need us inside?'' eagerly asked Cisco.

''I want you to stay behind and get ready to treat Barry. Me and Jay can handle the rest.''

''You need to be careful, don't let her electrocute you.'' Responded Caitlin.

Jay stepped forward, in full Flash uniform, before the detective could answer :

''If she's from Earth 2.0, she must know who I am. We'll keep Mrs Wandel distracted long enough for us to take her down and get the information we need.''

Caitlin looked at Cisco who nodded as an answer. It was as good as a plan as any for the time frame they had to come up with anything. Not to mention it was no use trying to convince Joe to stand down, relax and take the time to rethink about a better way to do things. Who knows for how long the woman will stay there, how long until it was Barry body's turn to wash up on the shore? If he wasn't already dead...No, no time for talk like that, it was time to be focussed , 100% focus.

''Alright, be careful''

Joe stepped out of the S.T.A.R. Labs van, gun out.

''Time for being careful is over.''

Jay and Joe checked their earpiece and slowly moved toward the building, staying under the cover of darkness. Which wasn't that hard considering pretty much every building around has been badly damaged 7 months ago and while some were slowly starting the process of rebuilding, none of the workers were around at this time of night. As they closed on their goal, Jay tapped lightly Joe's shoulder and pointed him a window on the second floor; light coming out of it. Someone was burning the midnight oil in there.

They could've sworn they heard noises in the alley they just passed, but after a second of closely looking, they dismissed it. Probably a cat or something, bigger fish to take care of. They found a small door at the back of the building and picked the lock as fast and silently as they could. With that behind them, they made their way to the second floor, walking in the long hallway full of what used to be separate offices, double checking every open door they passed in front of, just to make sure there wasn't anyone lurking in the dark, waiting to jump on them.

At the end of the hallway, there was one office with the lights on. They stopped a couple of steps before arriving to it, Joe gesturing to his partner to let him make a move first before stepping behind. Jay nodded and let the detective cover the last couple of steps with quick and determined strides.

The room that used to be an office has been turned into a makeshift laboratory with equipments all over the desk. A woman with short and dark hair, just like the one they saw on the camera, had her back turned on the door, focus on her note and whatever she was studying under that microscope.

''Don't move or I'll shoot!'' Joe warned, holding his gun up, pointing at the woman. Every muscle in his body tensed, his mind almost wanting to kill her on sight. ''Tell me where's your prisoner. Now.''

She slowly turned around, calmy looking the detective in his eyes.

''I know a killer when I see one, you're not going to hurt me.'' Somehow Joe wasn't expecting such a hypnotizing voice. Listening to her, he didn't notice the way her hands opened and slowly started to move up. Electricity passing through her body. She would've attacked Joe if it wasn't for the commanding voice who came up from behind Barry's dad.

''I wouldn't do that if I were you.''

''Flash?''. Ok, that was unexpected to say the least. It threw her off-guard, which was a new feeling for Amelia, always used to be in control. ''I thought you were dead.''

''Everyone does Mrs Wandel. If I see just a flicker of electricity, I will take you down before you know what's going on.'' Jay paused, waiting for Amelia to answer. She didn't, nobody did. ''Just hand over your prisoner.''

''Who? The speedster? He's mine.'' She stated calmly, closely watching how the man with dark skin grabbed his gun with more force, his jaw squeezing. But, the most interesting part was watching Jay, The Flash, not flinching. Not at all. She wasn't ready to take down a speedster, not alone, not one who was on his guard. She had no leverage at this moment, so what was he waiting for? Unless he was bluffing. That was just a theory, but one she was ready to put to the test.

''Alright, I'll tell you where he is…'' she started with her more sensual voice, distracting her audience just for one second. That's all the time she needed to react, charging energy in her body and sending an electric discharge their way.

Ironically, Joe was the quickest to react, pushing Jay out of the way of the lighting. Didn't want to test how many time a speedster could be hit by it without brain damage. They both ended on the ground, Joe quickly grabbing back his gun to point it at his son's captor. It was too late.

By the time it took to get Amelia back in his line of fire, she had already grabbed what looked like a bomb's detonator in her hand, attractive smile on her face.

''Too slow, boys? Look like you have no powers on this Earth, Flash.''

Joe got back on his feet, still aiming at Mrs Wandel. ''What are you playing at? Just move one muscle and I *will* shoot.''

''I already activated the bomb, we have 10 minutes before everything explodes….oh wait, I think that was 20 seconds ago.''

''What do you want?!'' screamed Joe. That crazy meta was going to get them all killed.

''Isn't obvious? I'm finding out what make speedsters tick so we can take down Zoom. Let make a deal; let me leave, unharmed, with all of my research and you can get my rat back. He's useless now anyway, he'll die soon.''

It took all of Joe's mental and physical strength to keep his cool. Did she realize she was talking about a person? It was taking all of his will to not kill her, right now. Amelia looked amused at his reaction.

''And just in case you're thinking about killing me, just a gentle reminder that if I let go of the trigger, it will blow. It's easy. Just let me go and I'll let you know how to free the subject. Or you can try and find him, I know you're dying to.''

She chuckled at her own words. Dying to. It seemed amusing to her.

''So is he actually. But I promise you, you'll need my help to get him out.''

What was that supposed to mean? Joe turned to his partner:

''Go, Jay. Find my son, get him out and don't come back for me 'til it's done.''

''Are you…?''

''Go!''

Joe wasn't going to take his eyes off this crazy woman again. If Jay could find Barry and get him out, it's was worth the risk of staying behind. Earth 2 Flash took a couple of step toward the exit of the room, trying to keep an eye of Amelia to make sure she wasn't about to make everything explode the second someone would move in the room. Seeing it wasn't the case, he turned around and accelerate the pace. Leaving Amelia and Joe alone in the same room.

Jay looked in every room, one by one, checking his watch. Time was running out. He moved on the downstairs level, than to the other one: underground. This place was pretty big or has been 'til the singularity hit the city. It was three floors high plus the basement. Logic dictated a basement was way more quiet place to keep a prisoner, less chances for anyone to hear or see anything, even in this mostly abandoned portion of town.

He frowned when, arriving at the bottom of the stairs, he ended up face to face with a broken door. Not a oops-the-door-handle-is-loose-and-I-should-fix-it, but more of a break and entry type of door. The lock has been broken and there was pieces of wood frame on the floor. Something told him that it wasn't Amelia who lost her key and decided to enter by another way. Someone else went there, and could still be in. Was that in any way related to the sound they heard outside? Someone followed them here? Who? Why? Someone else was after Barry?

Jay wasn't much of a shooter, but without being willing to take the risk to expose his powers, he accepted a gun from Joe in the van and took it out while he entered the basement.

On the bright side, if it was locked before, its probably because Barry was indeed there. On the other side, hard to tell who broke his way in and why. The speeder needed to be on his guard.

 ****FLASHFLASHFLASH****

Back in the room, Joe was still, hopelessly trying to reason with Amelia, trying to make her step down before they would all die, all of them, including herself.

''What are you doing? !''

''Zoom is never going to stop forcing Meta working for him, the ones he kidnapped and send here never came back. We can't just wait, in fear, for the day he'll decide to come after me and my friends… . We're at war. We need to act, now! Before it's too late.''

She has friends, her? That sounded surprising, but, thought Joe, the crazy ones seem to always find crazier people to get along with. He got it, the base on her thinking process, he did, but damn was she messed up in the way she acted on this.

''You will die!'', she either wasn't thinking all of this through or she was just crazier than Joe gave her credit for.

''Don't you get it? We will all die if we don't stop Zoom and all the others like him. It's us or them. We needed to make a choice and I did it.''

Alright, definitely crazy.

''Are you even hearing yourself. At war? I don't know how bad it is on your world and not going to pretend I do, but this?! Torturing an innocent man. How is that making you any better than Zoom?''

''He's no man, he's no innocent. If he's still alive it's because we need him to find out how they control their speed. He should be thankful I allowed him to live this far. Life as a lab rat is better than what he deserves. Let me go with my samples and formula, I will find a way to take down them all down. I will save us.''

Joe's blood was boiling under his skin, his whole body was shaking with rage. More strength was needed to stabilize the gun in his hand. Barry might not be his genes, but he still was his son and he was the kindest, most loving, caring, generous soul he's ever seen. Barry never backed down from helping people at the risk of his own life, again and again. What was he rewarded by for all that? Someone kidnapping him, torturing him like he was some lab rat, some bacteria, some mindless lab subject. The bomb in her hand was the only thing keeping Joe from killing Amelia. He couldn't stop himself from screaming the words that came out of his mouth, venom and hate in his voice:

''He's a person! A living, kind, person!''

''He's a speedster! Don't you get it?! They're all monsters, they're all psychopaths! It's us or them, we need to exterminate all of them, one at the time. You should be thanking me! We're not going to be free to live our life as long as one of them is still alive. You're weak for letting yourself believe his lies, he's just as evil as the rest of them. That speedster would've betrayed you one day or another, just like Jay will.

Joe was feeling sick in his stomach, disgusted by this woman. What the hell was wrong with her? There wasn't a single part of doubt in his mind that Wandel was sick, totally messed up or whatever way you wanted to spell it **(A/N: Send over a 0,25$ copywrite check to CrimsonComet for sorta quoting your comment ;)** ). In his life as a detective, he's seen some really brutal cases, including one scalping case and even a murder made by some crazy people who eviscerated their victims for some sort of ritual. It wasn't pretty to see, to say the least, but none of that made him feel like that woman in front of him. Talking about his son like he was some sort of disposable object, some sick and dying animal or some monster you needed to put down.

He made a quick glance to his watch, it's been 5 minutes since she activate the bomb. Only 5 minutes left. Time was running out.

* * *

 **A/N: Any ideas on the identity of the person who broke in? All I can tell you is: it's a character you know in the show...but that had yet to make an appearance in my fic. Let's see who can guess it in the comments first!**

 **Oh and for those who are still wondering...yeah my meta is crazy!**


	9. In the fire

Jay made his way to a darker side of the basement, probably the section that used to be the storage rooms. Most of them have been emptied after the incident until this place could be reopen again and there were still pretty much that way. The speedster slowly entered one room after another, carefully checking before stepping foot in any of them, in case the person who broke in was still there. He wasn't going to let anyone take the Scarlet Speedster away. Was he ready to blow up his cover in order to keep Barry alive? It wasn't a question Jay's mind wanted to answer, not unless it was absolutely necessary.

He entered a dark room with an empty, bloody, chair in the middle of it and a camera placed not too far from it. That was definitely the room where the broadcast came from, just not the one the real Barry was being held. Jay felt he was getting closer and closer to his target. Barry had to be somewhere around.

As on cue, when he slowly exited the place, he heard noise from the adjacent room. Grabbing his gun in front of him, Jay moved toward the next door, noticing once again his open state, the person inside not bothering to hide his tracks. Jay carefully stepped inside, observing a man kneeling in the middle of the room. Short dark hair, slim, wearing a dark hoodie. That's how the man was. Jay knew him from somewhere, the speedster just couldn't put his finger on where, yet. One time for sure, he needed to stay on his guard, seeing the big gun laying on the ground, at hand distance of the mystery man.

That person looked very busy with whatever he was doing. When Jay made his first discreet and vigilante steps into the room, making sure to stay unknown 'til the last moment, he started seeing a figure sitting in front of the kneeling character. With one quick glance, Jay knew it was his target: Earth 1 Flash, Barry, who was sitting on the chair, his head down, his chin resting on his shirtless chest, unmoving. Even from this distance, Jay could see Barry and heard the speedster's laboring breath. On the bright side, it wasn't too late for a rescue, but the Scarlet Speedster didn't look so good either.

Jay got so focus in getting closer and making a plan that he barely noticed how chilly this room was compared to the rest of the building.

Alright, so take down the stranger, knock him out, grab Barry and get out. He couldn't care less that his plan included letting a man unconscious in an impending explosion. As he got a couple of steps closer, it hit him:

''Wells?!''

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

Joe was nervously alternating his glances between his watch and Amelia. Time was going to run out and soon. Without losing sight of the woman who took and hurt his son, he tried activating his earpiece.

''Cisco, is Barry out yet?...Cisco? Can you hear me?''

Static was the only answer he got.

''Trouble with your radio?'' Amelia asked innocently.

Of course this place and her powers would make interferences in the comms.

''I'll make your choice easy. Let me go with my formula and I'll tell you where to find your speedster and how to get him out of here. That simple.''

That was almost a tempting offer. Let a murderer go free to save his family? But what were the chances she would just leave without activating the bomb right after exiting the building? He couldn't let her see how tempted he was feeling, not for now at least. The best shot was to keep her in his sight, keep her talking, and make sure she wasn't going to pull the trigger until at least the end of the countdown. Joe was willing to wait 'til the last second if it meant giving every chances Jay had to find Barry and get him out of there. He wasn't exactly feeling ready to die, but if his death could save Barry, so be it.

''I can't. You killed an innocent man. That other Barry Allen you killed, he was from your Earth and he wasn't a speedster, wasn't he? Not to mention your partner we found in the lake ''

''We're at war, war makes casualties''

''Stand down and come with us, let us find a way to stop that...Zoom.''

''You won't, you can't. Nobody can, expect me. I'm the only one smart enough to do it. My formula is the only weapon we have against these speedsters. The only chance we have to kill them all.''

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH***

The mystery man, Harrison Wells, paused what he was doing and turned around to look right in the speedster eyes, piercing through them.

''Well, well, well…Mister Garrick, so we meet again. I thought you were dead. So that's where you were, hiding from Zoom in a whole other universe. I should've see it coming.''

There was no lost love in Wells' voice. Jay wasn't about to let himself get intimidated, acting like he didn't even hear the comment. He wasn't going to bite.

''What are *you* doing here, on this Earth?''

''What does it look like I'm doing? I'm doing your job, Garrick; saving people while you're too busy being a coward and hiding in another universe.''

Obviously deciding the conversation was over, Wells returned his attention to the younger speedster, to this Earth's Flash. Jay carefully closed the distance between himself and the two of them. There was one metal cuff to each of the speedster's wrists and ankles. The ones around the ankles being tied to each other by some sort of metal cable laying on the ground, same for the ones around his wrists. At the same time, he could notice all the blood on the shirtless man. It was the understatement of the year to say Barry didn't look too good right now.

For the first time since entering the room, the Crimson Comet noticed that Wells was holding some sort of portable machine with a keyboard and a screen.

''What are you doing with that? I don't know if you're aware, but we're all going to blow if we don't get out of this place in the next 4 minutes or so.''

He heard the man sighed with frustration.

''How about you let me do my work and go hide somewhere else?''

The machine that Harrison was holding let the men heard a small, but high pinched alarm. Before Jay could make any comment or question, Barry's body let out a grunt of pain and started shaking violently, hit by a sudden and sharp electric shock. Dr. Wells let out another frustration grunt, rapidly typing on his keyboard to try make it stop while Jay moved closer.

''You're killing him!''

''I highly doubt a couple more shocks will kill him more than the bomb that's about to destroy this whole building.''

Barry's body stopped convulsing and returned to his motionless, almost lifeless, state: not moving a single muscle, barely breathing, irregularly and painfully taking in and expulsing small amount of air. Earth 2 Flash glared at the scientist, conflicted between continuing the argument or letting Wells works, whatever the hell he was doing. What was he playing at with this machine? There had to be a better way to do this.

Wells kept on working, but sensing the skeptical eyes on his back, he started talking about it while working:

''Believe it or not Garrick, but the Flash is actually important to me and I need him alive. I made these special speedster's handcuffs myself and Mrs. Wandel decided to steal them from S.T.A.R. Labs. I designed these specifically for speedsters, to stop Zoom. If the wrong frequency is enter or if the speedster tries to get free by phasing, it delivers a shock. I just need to find the right frequency that was put in these. Only Mrs Wandels knows for sure and we're running out of time to go find her and ask.

Now if you don't mind, you can stand there and let me work or you can coward your way out like you usually do. ''

Jay stood back, watching the fallen hero with a smile at the corner of his mouth. If it wasn't for all the power he wanted for the kid, he probably would be on his way out already. Sadly, until that moment where he would finally be able to steal The Flash's speed, he needed to keep that kid alive. A very sad fact considering the situation they were into. He started considering the possibility of just leaving and letting Barry perish in the blast. Maybe he could eventually tell Caitlin about his condition and hope she'll find a cure. She was a smart girl after all.

A click interrupted his thoughts. The metal cuffs around the speedsters' wrist finally opened on their own.

''Nice one Harrison, now free his ankles so we can get out of here.''

''That's if Mrs Wandel putted the same frequency code on the other pair of handcuffs too...''

Wells moved down to work on the ankle, sending the same signal and hoping for the best. He jumped and cursed under his skin when the young prisoner started shaking again.

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

Joe kept on looking at his watch while watching the metahuman in front. 3 minutes left, 2 minutes left. She looked awfully calm for someone who was also about to die with them. She seemed pretty resigned to her fate. But, what else could you expect from such an unstable person? The actions she did weren't the ones of a sane individual.

In the time allowed, Joe's mind worked overtime to try figure out any way to make her deactivate the bomb and surrender, but he couldn't find any. The only thing remaining was the hope that Jay already got Barry out or was doing so at the moment. Maybe he was on his way back or he figured out there wasn't any time left to come back.

Was Joe supposed to stay there and die? What if Jay and Barry were already out of the building? His death would be pretty useless. But if they were still inside, his death would also be pointless. Someone would need to carry the torch. What about Iris? She couldn't lose both her adoptive brother and her father at the same time. The detective looked at the time once again, one minute, less than one minute...55 seconds. It was decided. It was going to be all or nothing. He took a quick glance around the room to spot the location of the window they saw earlier.

It was from the 2nd floor, but what other option was there?

''Last chance Wandel! Surrender or we'll all die!''

Probably tired of all the talking, she just chuckled. That's it. Time up. All or nothing. At his top speed, Joe made sure he aimed for the heart and fire the shot. The bullet hit the target with perfect accuracy. Mrs Wandel's eyes opened widely, as in shock that the Detective indeed shot her, her hand muscles tightening against the device. A detail Joe didn't even see since he was too busy on his backup plan to stick around and watch her reaction. As soon as the shot was fired, he figured, or more like hope, it would take a couple of seconds for the woman to drop the trigger and make everything explode.

He just let his gun hit the ground and ran as fast as he could for the window. Amelia stumbled to stay on her feet for a second or two before dropping dead, her body moving quickly toward the ground. Touching it as Joe went right through the window, upper body going first, his arms raised in front of his face in an effort to protect his head.

The detective's body didn't have time to hit the ground before he heard a huge sound coming from behind him. Sound and heat barely had time to register right before he crumpled on the rock solid ground. Pain exploding in his arm that contacted with the ground first, pain exploding in his shoulder too, not to mention his back. His mind almost went blank, his body wanted to get away from the pain, but Joe needed to fight it, for his children. He knew staying on the spot meant risking being buried alive under the building as he heard it breaking, exploding, and burning behind.

The pain was paralyzing him, he couldn't get up. Joe tried to grab the asphalt in front of him to drag himself away, but in the confusion of his mind, he ended hitting the ground with his injured arm. Screaming in pain, his whole body fell back to the ground, before a debris fell on his back.

Joe's last thought before another one hit his head and send him into oblivion was Barry. Was he out? And safe?

* * *

 **A/N: Congrats Dont be such a sourwolf -Dylan on guessing it right!**

 **Alright now...who do I kill? Joe, Barry or both? ;)**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter. Was it a good 2 parts rescue?**


	10. Out of the wood?

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews RedQ and MamzelleHermy. Hope the rest of you guys are still there!**

 **Here we go for one more chapter. My medical knowledge comes from TV shows, google search and RedQ (THANKS!), so I'm sorry for any** **inaccuracy.**

* * *

Caitlin sighed, tiredly looking at the test results on the computer screen for the….she couldn't even remember how many time she reviewed these results. It wasn't good. She rubbed her tired eyes before passing her hand through her messed up hairs. There had to be something more she could do than wait, everyone was counting on her.

Dr. Snow turned her chair around to face the form on the medical bay. Barry's been back at the Labs for hours now and every time she looked at him, so still and motionless, she could still see the dead double. It wasn't much of a stretch considering how Barry's been since he come back, not to mention how pale he was and how low most of his vitals were. He wasn't out of the wood, no yet.

He was laying on the bed in the medical bay, blanket covering his legs, all the way up to his hips. His friends took the time to clean him up, but there were still a lot of bruises, ecchymosis and electric burns covering his body. Not to mention the stab wounds on his left shoulder and right thigh. It was hard to find one clean spot on his body; when it wasn't a colorful mark covering the skin, it was some big bandages. Everyone who knew the man was well aware how stubborn he could be from time to time. Seem like Barry's body was just as stubborn as his mind as many of his wounds wouldn't start to heal, including the stab wound in his thigh and multiple cuts on both arms, some cuts deeper than the rest.

As if there wasn't enough bandages and wounds to cover the delicate skin, there was medical equipment connected all around to keep track of the young man's vitals and they didn't look good. His face was partly covered by an oxygen mask, helping get enough air to keep his heart beating and minimize the struggle of each breath. Yep, not good. Caitlin couldn't help feeling helpless. She was a doctor. The rest of the team did their job in finding their friend, rescuing him and bringing the young man home. Everyone did their part as planned, but now that the ball was in her camp, she had no idea what to do. She's been spending the two last hours trying to analyze Barry's blood and analyze the drug that this….Wells, gave her.

Seem like the universe was enjoying just a tad too much laughing at them. Another Wells, from another universe, really? Could he be trusted? She just wished there was more people on staff that night, but right now the lab was pretty empty and quiet. As soon as they came back and told Iris about her father's disappearance under the rubbles, she made sure Caitlin would keep her updated on Barry's status and left to join Jay on the site.

Caitlin reached for Barry's throat with her fingers, concentrating to keep them steady. Despite the monitor telling her there was a beating pulse, her heart was still picking up the pace as her mind went back once more to that broadcast. The slow beating she felt put her at rest, for the moment, even considering how weak it was. The doctor couldn't stop herself from wondering if somewhere, on Earth-2, there was a Nora Allen searching for her son, a mother that would soon need to bury him.

She got suddenly taken away from her thoughts when Cisco walked in, almost making her jump out of her skin. The young scientist walked in, taking only one quick glance at his best friend laying in front of him, looking almost lifeless, before moving his eyes immediately back to Caitlin, as if seeing Barry like that was hurting him.

''Hey'', he started. ''You ok?''

The doctor raised her eyebrows. Was she ok? Really? Cisco winced in response. Yeah, definitely a stupid question. They both looked just as exhausted as they were feeling. The last couple of days were like hell and it only seemed like the worst was yet to come. At least yesterday, as they were searching, collecting clues, putting pieces together, they were helping, they were doing something. Waiting and crossing fingers wasn't in anyone's resume.

''Any news on...''

Understanding right away what she meant, CIsco shook his head before Caitlin could finish her sentence:

''Nothing. Iris and Jay will call us if there's anything''

''What about Dr. Wells? Where is he?''

''Can we just not used the name Dr. Wells? I'm just gonna call him...Harry.'' started Cisco before looking over his shoulder to make sure the guy they were talking about wasn't just behind. ''He was using my lab last I saw him five minutes ago. I don't trust him, can we just kick him out?''

Caitlin sighed.

''Cisco, I know how you feel, believe me. I don't trust him either, but Jay told us that guy is the only reason they got Barry out in time. We own him Barry's life.''

''I know...'' Cisco paused for a second or two. ''Doesn't mean I have to like it.''

They both went silent for what seems to be the longest time, while it was in fact only a couple of seconds. Both of them slowly starting to look down at their best friends, neither being too eager to start talking about the elephant in the room.

Cisco was the first one to break the silence:

''How is he?''

''Same...''

What else was Caitlin supposed to say? She couldn't say stable, he was as far away as stable as he could possibly be. He didn't get worse since they took him back last night, but he wasn't any better.

''What's wrong with him?''

Caitlin lowed her head to look at her patient, not wanting to look in her friend's eyes while listing the injuries and problems she had to deal with. She couldn't stop her mind from going back to last night…

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

''I should've go with them…I should go in there now.'' Told Cisco for the 200th time for the night.

While it was getting close to annoying, part of Caitlin was approving but she couldn't verbally admit it. They've been told to wait, they couldn't risk getting caught. For all they know, everyone could be on their way back. But it's been 15, 20 minutes maybe, since Joe and Jay left. Caitlin couldn't shake her feeling that something went horribly wrong. She was on the edge to say screw it and tell Cisco to come with her check it out until an explosion shook the ground and their ears.

Both scientists' eyes widened in shock. They already lost Barry once this week, their mind couldn't process losing him again, along with Joe and Jay. Cisco was already putting one foot in front of the other, ready to run to the scene, but Caitlin's hand on his shoulder stopped him in his track.

''Look!'' she said, pointing in the opposite direction.

It wasn't the hand or the words that made Cisco turned around, but the tone of that voice. Caitlin almost sounded in shock, like she's just seen a ghost. Or maybe she just did. Cisco's expression reflected the one of her friend when he finally got a glimpse of what was happening. There it was, Jay and another man running back their way, dragging between them an unmoving, bloody, unconscious Barry Allen. Cisco wanted to meet them halfway, but he finally saw the face of the second man. It couldn't be. Both friends were frozen where they were standing, until Jay's scream putted them out of their trances.

''Caitlin! Help! He's not breathing!''

Barry! Caitlin ran the distance separating her from the 2 Flash and…that man, Cisco on her heels, as Jay was slowly lying Barry flat on the ground. She quickly took one quick glance at Wells, as if she was trying to decide if there was a risk for her life, before returning her attention to Barry, checking his vitals. Cisco was already on Wells' case.

''Jay! Watch out! This guy is…''

''From my Earth.'' Completed Jay. ''He's the only reason I was able to get Barry's out.''

Cisco looked at that new Wells in the eyes, that other man glaring back at him without flinching. Doppelganger Wells? That was going to be interesting. There was one question more urgent than asking for that new Wells for his pedigree as Cisco took a look behind the two standing men.

''Where's Joe?''

''He's…..I think he was still in the building…'' said Jay, his eyes looking away.

''What?!''

Before any of them could answer to that, Caitlin's panicked voice covered them all.

''Cisco, help me! Got get the defibrillator and the bag mask in the van! NOW!''

She didn't even wait to finish her sentence that she was already starting compression, Wells 2.0 and everything around her already forgotten. Nothing else matter, noting other than reanimating Barry Allen.

''Come on Barry, don't do this, not now, come on Barry. Come on!''

She barely had time to finish the first set of compressions before Cisco came back with the defibrillator and the bag mask, letting Caitlin put the mask on and start ventilating a couple of time while her friend was putting the defibrillator pads on his chest.

''Let's charge it to 300! Everyone stand back!''

After the shock was delivered, Caitlin rushed in again, digging desperately in her friend's neck, before closing in to search for any breathing sign in an anxious silence.

''We have a heartbeat and he's breathing again.'' Cisco sighed in relief, while Caitlin kept on talking, too focus on checking her patient's injuries to look up as she gave instructions. ''Alright people let's move. Cisco, Jay can you help me get him inside the van? Joe, call Iris quick, we'll need her to get everything ready as soon as we arrive at the lab.''

Cisco turned around to look at Jay for help to tell the news, unsure how to deliver it.

''Caitlin...Joe's under…there''

He saw the doctors' eyes go up and meet his, seeing the moment of realization in her face when she finally took notice that Joe wasn't with the group. Horror striking her features.

''No…''

What were they supposed to do? Barry needed medical help like yesterday, but were they supposed to leave Joe out there? What if he was still alive? Even if they knew the choice Joe would make, it wasn't an easy decision. Jay saved them from making a choice. During the reanimation attempt on Barry, nobody noticed Jay walking away, but they all saw him walking toward the group again:

''You go, I already called for help. I'll stay behind to assist with the search.''

Gratefully nodding at the speedster, Caitlin returned into full doctor mode in a split of a second.

''Alright, let's move people, come on!''

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

''Caitlin!''

''Right…sorry…Well, he's…bad.''

She took one deep breath before starting to describe everything that was wrong with Barry. While the deep stab wound in his shoulder was slowly but surely starting to heal, the one in his right thigh was worrying Caitlin. The wound looked ugly, greenish fluid spots appearing in it, the skin around slowly getting red and swollen. It was getting infected, no doubt about it.

Not to mention all the electric burns located at many places on his beaten body, the biggest one near his left shoulder. Barry's right hand and wrist were covered in tight bandages, trying to keep everything immobilized while the broken bones were finishing their healing job.

''But'' interrupted Cisco ''should've he be quickly healing from all of this? What's wrong with his powers?''

''Between the dehydration, the malnutrition and the cold he's been kept in, there's already lots of reasons for his powers to not be as efficient as they should be….'' She trailed, taking a deep breath before continuing with the worst part. ''But there's also a lot of drugs in his system that are affecting his powers. They're barely working at all and what's left is just overwhelmed with all the injuries that need treating.''

Caitlin took the longest of pause. Like she was hoping for Cisco to let her work with her patient, but Cisco was no fool, he knew her too well.

''Caitlin…what aren't you telling me? What's really wrong with Barry''

There was no lying, no hiding.

''It's his heart Cisco, it's been…damaged.''

Cisco felt his own heart tighten up at this sentence, at the resigned tone it's been said.

''What do you mean, damaged?''

''All the shock he received disrupted his heart electric system. It's bad, Cisco. His heartbeat just keeps on getting irregular, his breathing's having a hard time compensating for his bad heart. It could stop at any time. ''

''What can we do?''

''With his powers mostly off, I can give him fluids and antibiotics to try stabilize him the best I can, but he can code at any time and there's nothing I can do.'' The last words came out with pain in the voice, tears filling up her eyes. Caitlin never felt so useless, so powerless. Just wait and hope for the best.

''But you said his speed is still there, right? Can't it come back and heal his heart?''

That was Cisco for you, always looking up for solutions, there always was one out there. Caitlin couldn't help but smile at the corner of her mouth. She wanted to let his optimist contaminate her, but reality came back in a rush.

''Hopefully, but there's so many drugs in his system, it might take days for his body to flush it all out. I don't…I…can't tell if he can survive that long before his injuries or his heart win this race.''

Couldn't keeping all in anymore, Caitlin just started letting everything out, tears falling freely on her cheeks. Her scientist friend closing the remaining distance between them to take her in his arms. Not saying a word. Wanting to say everything was going be ok, but was it? Looking over her shoulder, he looks at his hurt, dying friend. Were they supposed to wait, cross their fingers and hope?

He wasn't ready yet to throw the towel. Not after everything they did to find him and get him back. Letting go of Caitlin, he took a couple of steps back, patiently waiting for her to wipe her tears and watch her face going back to the let's get to business mode.

''Take a deep breath. That's it. So the problem is the drugs Amelia gave him? Let's find a way to neutralize them.''

Caitlin nodded, he was right. She just wished it was that simple. She's been working almost all night to figure out what was in it and the effect it could been having on Barry's system, and nothing seems to make sense so far. Caitlin couldn't destroy Cisco's enthusiast and he was right, it was their only option. Even if the odds weren't in her favor right now there was no giving up, not while there was still time.

Clock was ticking, time to get back to work.

* * *

 **A/N: Leave comments to let me know what you thought. Really help the motivation to know you're still there :)**


	11. From bad to worse

**A/N: Sorry but not sorry for keeping you on edge about Joe's condition. Update about that coming in that chapter. You sure know how to keep me motivated with your comments, updating couple of days in avance and hopefully, my next chapter will come within a week :) I'll do my best! Especially since I have a day off coming up this week.**

* * *

The ride back to S.T.A.R. Labs was the longest one in Team Flash's lives. Caitlin didn't remember the Labs being so far away, every second was going in slow motion as she was trying to assess Barry's condition and injuries, which wasn't easy with all the blood covering him. With each newly found injury, she communicated her needs to Iris on her phone's speaker so everything would be ready the second they would be arriving.

When Cisco finally stopped the van in the garage, he got out of the driving seat and flew the door's opened within seconds, Iris running to them with a mobile stretcher, not making any effort to contain the horror gasp leaving her lips when she saw the state Barry was in. Despite receiving all the information for Caitlin, nothing could've prepared her for what she saw. She barely even noticed the two scientists gathering Barry's prone form and putting him on the gurney before rushing him away, pushing her to jog after them as they entered the lab. It wasn't until they were in the elevator and closing the door that Iris realized something was missing. Or more like someone.

''Guys, where's Jay?...Where's my dad?''

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

Barry and Cisco left to go out on Saturday night. Now it was Wednesday afternoon, less than four days later and yet the memories of last week felt like they were from another timeline, another life. For what felt like the hundredth time today, Caitlin rubbed her tired eyes, understanding what was inside the serum was one thing, understanding how the combine elements can affect the speed force was another one and making something to counteract them was a whole other world. Especially in such a short amount of time.

Her thought process was interrupted by her phone ringtone, Iris name appearing. Maybe it was news about Joe, she picked up the phone right away.

''Hey Iris''

''Hey Caitlin, how's Barry?''

Alright, no small talk. There was no point avoiding the subject that was on both their mind.

''He's….not going to lie, he's not good. His infection is getting worse, his temperature went up by two degrees in the last hour.''

''Damn.'' Was all that Caitlin heard on the other side of the line before a short silence. ''Is there anything you can do?''

''I'm trying, Iris, I am.''

''I know you are, girl, I'm sorry. It's just, I can't lose them, I can't lose him, I can't lose any of them.''

Even at the other hand of the line, Caitlin could almost hear the tears in her voice.

''Iris, listen to me, Barry and your father are the two strongest people we know. They're strong. I know the situation looks pretty grim right now, but we can't lose hope.'' Before Iris could answer, the doctor continued with the question that's been burning her lips.

''How's Joe?''

Iris sighed, while it probably was half the reason she called, she wasn't exactly eager to discuss her father's condition.

''The doctors told me earlier the swelling in his brain is not showing any signs of shrinking or any sign he'll wake up any time soon.''

''If there's anything I can do….''

''Just make sure he has a son to go back to when he wakes up.''

Caitlin nodded before realizing she was still talking to the phone, breaking the silence she created and assuring Iris she would do it. Even if she wasn't as certain Barry will pull through as she wanted the people around her to believe.

As soon as Iris hanged off the phone, she walked back to her father's hospital room who was still in the exact position she left him. Sleeping on his back, almost looking peaceful, too peaceful. Gratefully, Jay was there to point the rescue team in the right direction. It was thanks to him that her father was found and taken out of the remains so quickly. For the most part, Joe got lucky, if you could consider it that way. A debris hit his back, but thankfully there was no spine damage and most of his injuries were mostly bruises and superficial wounds that would be almost healed in the next week or so.

On the bad part, he had two broken ribs, three bruised ones, a badly damaged right shoulder and a broken, displaced right arm. But the worse was his head injury. The doctors couldn't tell how long it would be before his return to the land of the living and if there would be any brain damages with all the swelling going on. The only thing they could do right now was wait and hope for the best.

Iris took back her place on the plastic chair next to the bed, weakly smiling at Jay, standing in the corner of the room.

''No matter what happen next, thanks for finding him so quick. I mean it.''

''Don't worry about that. If you wanna go be by Barry's side, I'll stay with your dad.''

''Thanks, Jay. But no, Caitlin will keep us updated. If…*When* my dad will wake up, I'll need to be there to keep him from running right to S.T.A.R.S. Labs.''

Iris fought the tears, she couldn't be thinking about an 'if', for neither Joe nor Barry. They had to be ok.

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

Back at the labs, Caitlin finished engulfing another coffee. At the point, caffeine didn't have much of an effect on her anymore. She just couldn't let her body get the rest it deserved just yet, not 'til Barry was out of the danger zone.

Turning around, her heart jumped into her chest, her hand letting go of her empty cup that ended up smashing into pieces on the ground, when she ended face to face with the tall figure of Eob….no no, it was just Wells from Earth 2. Harry.

''Don't Do That!'' she stated while putting a hand on her racing heart. Only noticing now the closed test tube in his hand. ''What's that?''

''That, Dr. Snow, is how we can save your friend.''

''What do you mean? Where's Cisco?''

Even if Jay told them about that Wells from his Earth, she couldn't help but being nervous around that man. Her instinct telling her not to trust this Wells, unless it was just her still too fresh memories of what the other one did to her, to all of them. Caitlin glanced over the man's shoulder to see if Cisco was nowhere close. Fine, she decided to bite.

''Where did you find that?''

''I made it, Snow. I simply used a sample of the serum to find a way to counteract it.''

Caitlin just stared at him for a moment. She's been working all night and morning and came out empty. And now this dude just comes out with a solution? Just like that?

''Wait, what? How did you do that? How did you even get the sample?''

''What? You thought I gave you all the samples of the serum I brought back from there? Been studying mine all day. Wandel based her experiments on my own anti-speedster

research, I can recognize my work anywhere. Inject this into your speedster. If I'm correct, and I'm never wrong, this should counteract most of the serum.''

Caitlin hesitantly took the tube that was being offered to her, starring at it, lost in her thoughts. Part of the doctor wanting to accept the gift, desperate to try anything at this point, but could Harry be trusted? This could go in three different directions. First and best possibility; it works and Barry gets better in the time to say it. Second possibility; this guy only thinks this can work and it doesn't do anything at all. Third and worse possibility; this doctor Wells was trying to trick them into giving something harmful to Barry. But, to what end?

Caitlin was willing to take the chance, but it wasn't fair making the decision on her own, she wasn't the only one caring about Barry and she wasn't family, on paper at least. She watched Cisco walk in the cortex, suspiciously looking at them, wondering if he needed to join or interfere.

''Can you give us the room a moment?''

She signaled at Cisco to come in as Wells was leaving the medical lab. Cisco glaring at the man as they passed each other, not noticing Caitlin walking to the corner of the lab before facing her friend again.

''Harry made a mess of my lab, he's really getting on my nerves…'' Cisco was about to make another comment but paused himself when he got a glimpse of the conflicted look on his friend's face. ''What's going on, is it Barry?''

The scientist looked down with apprehension at the fallen hero, fearing something else changed in his condition. Barry didn't look too good, but he didn't look worse either. His attention turned back to Caitlin who had both her arms behind her back, pressed against the counter, or at least one hand was. The right arm came from behind and when the hand opened, Cisco noticed the tube in it.

''What's that?''

''Harry gave that to me. Said this could fight the serum and kick back Barry's healing ability.''

''Really?'' Cisco raised his eyebrow, surprisingly not showing much signs of joy or celebration. He might be the enthusiast one, but he wasn't ready for false hope.

''You think we should try it?'' She added

''I don't know, I'm not trusting him, Caitlin. Can't you just check it up with your medical stuff to testify it's gonna work?''

'' I could, but it might take hours, might take a day or even two, I can't tell how long Barry will hold on, his temperature is up again and his heartbeat is more irregular, it's not good. He's getting weaker, I can't even certify he'll even make it 'til morning.''

Taking in the news, Cisco rubbed forcefully his forehead.

''Alright, what are Jay and Iris saying about it?''

'Wells just gave me this, didn't have time to call them. I needed your opinion first.''

''I'm sorry Caitlin'' he started, walking away a couple of feet away from her, back turned, thinking hard about it before turning back again. ''But I don't trust him.''

''I know that, I can't blame you, not trusting him either, but if we don't do anything, we will lose Barry.'' She watched closely the engineer took a seat next to the bed, processing all the information, putting his head in his head for a second there.

''How sure are you of that?''

''Honestly? It's a gamble. 60/40 maybe if we're optimistic. Look Cisco, if Wells really wanted to kill Barry, all he needed to do was just walk away and let the building explode. Or not even go in there in the first place.''

''What if this guy just wants to use Barry like the other Wells.''

''To be fair, it was Eobard and not Wells…''

''Yeah, whatever…still, this guy appeared from another universe just to say hello? He must have a hidden motivation. What if he wants to use Barry against Zoom? He might just want to keep him alive to use him later. To trade him to Zoom for something, maybe.''

'' I don't disagree with you there. I think he's keeping secrets too, but keeping Barry alive is good enough for me. We, all of us, can deal with it later like we always do.''

Cisco finally got up from his sitting place, taking one last look at his lying friend.

''Guess you're right. Let me call Iris before to see what she thinks about it. She deserves a vote.''

He got that right. Caitlin wished Joe could be there to vote too, but without him they needed to make that choice between the three of them. While Cisco walked away to call Iris, the doctor moved back to her desk to monitor her patient's vitals before taking just a small sample of the serum Wells gave her. Caitlin was hoping she could at least have a first look at what was in it.

Letting the computer analyze the content, she turned her attention back to the fallen man behind her. The priority was to monitor the infected wound in his thigh. To do so, she started by pulling the blanket off to expose the lower body, only dressed in boxer. The bandage she putted last night on his thigh was all messed up by now, blood and pus' traces appearing on it. As soon as the doctor took it off a strong and nasty smell spread in the room. The wound looked uglier than it was before she first cleaned it, it wasn't good. It felt like nothing she's been doing was helping. One thing at the time, she reminded herself. Wrinkling her nose, Caitlin took new gloves as she cleaned the wound again, emptying it of the newly accumulated pus and changing the bandage. The young doctor took time adjusting the medication to fight the growing infection before looking at the boy's temperature: 101,8 Fahrenheit. Up again. Couple of hours ago, his temperature was the only vital that was anywhere close to normal, now it wouldn't stop rising.

Placing back the blanket, Caitlin walked out of the medical bay, spotting right away Cisco on the other side of the cortex, still talking on the phone.

''You're sure about this?'' asked again Cisco, once he got the whole situation explained to Joe's daughter. He got his eyes up to meet Caitlin's before putting the phone away from his ear, hitting a button. ''You're on speaker guys. Caitlin's with me.''

''You guys need to be careful with that man'' spoke up Jay's voice. ''He cannot be trusted''

''We hear you Jay, but what else can we do? How's Barry?''

''He's getting worse.'' Answered Caitlin, being careful not to look at her friend as she spoke.

''Look Cisco, Jay'' continued Iris. '' I'm sorry, but I'm with Caitlin on this one. Let's do it. No matter what he's planning, we'll figure it out once Barry is back on his feet.''

* * *

 **A/N: You know the drill! Leave a comment to let me know what you though.**

 **We're coming close to the end of this great adventure (that was my first Flash and english fanfiction), but on the bright side, my new big story I've been working on for the past 2 months almost has the full plan written down. Should be coming soon.**

 **Might also pick up my dead story ''When Fear Strikes'' if anyone here was hoping to see where it was heading.**


	12. Alive

**A/N: Since you asked so nicely RedQ; here's the next chapter!**

* * *

As soon as Caitlin made sure there was nothing in the test tube that could hurt Barry further that he already was, they decided to go ahead and inject him. It was all or nothing. From now on, the speedster was either going to finally get stable or code. The night was going to be long. Both of the young speedster's best friends took turns to stay by his side all night. The good news was that Barry finally made the first sound since they took him back. Bad news; it was moans of pain that came first, uncomfortably shifting on the bed, sweat covering his red forehead as his temperature still kept on rising during the night. Hitting 102, then 102,5.

As light appeared in the windows, it was Cisco who was on bedside duty, waiting for any sign of awakening. He just wanted to hear his voice again, hear him joke around and laugh.

His body was aching with fatigue and pain from sitting so long on the uncomfortable chair, but he wasn't going to quit his post. Not again. Reluctantly at first, when his doctor friend joined him in the room, it took quite some convincing to make the boy agree to go rest a bit after eating. By the time Caitlin came back with something to eat, there was a big, relieve smile on her face, contrasting with her exhausted features.

''What is it?''

''Iris called me on my way back; she talked to Joe's doctor this morning. The swelling is finally showing signs of shrinking, he should be waking soon.''

Definitely good. At the same time, Caitlin remembered her promise to Iris that Joe will have a son to go back to when he wakes up. The young doctor handed breakfast to the engineer before moving to her computer, looking at the tests she started running before leaving for lunch. The day was starting on a high note, as, following the update on Joe's condition, the tests showed that the speedster's abilities were slowly awakening again in the boy's system. Visually she could see the bruises and ecchymosis starting to heal themselves, but Caitlin knew that the still raising temperature wasn't a good sign. Barry never did anything halfway, so why would his body start now and heal the bigger, life-threatening conditions first instead of the bruises?

Turning around, she put the back of her hand on the speedster's forehead, feeling the heat for herself before whispering fondly:

''Hang in there Barry, please, do it for me. You have to keep fighting.''

On the bright side, Caitlin couldn't be more grateful for the fact that Barry was still with them and he hadn't code yet. Was it partly because of what they injected him or it would've happened that way without it? Maybe the speedforce would heal his heart before anything bad happen.

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

Iris was eating her lunch at the hospital cafeteria when Jay came rushing to her.

''You need to come with me, now!''

Fearing the worst, she dashed to her father's room, heart in her throat. Emotions rose when she arrived at her destination, but not for the reasons she feared. Before she had time to walk in the room, she started hearing voices talking, one voice she could recognized everywhere.

''Where am I? What's happening?''

''Mr. West, you need to stay still. You're at the hospital. Can you tell us the…''

The doctor couldn't finish his sentence that Joe was trying to get up. Iris jumped in the scene, pushing the doctor out of the way to get to her dad.

''Dad, hey, hey, it's me. You're ok.''

Joe looked at his daughter in the eyes, confusion in them, Iris' stomach sinking.

''Iris?'' inquired Joe, recognition finally flashing in his face, making his daughter laugh in relief, nodding. ''Where's Barry? Save him, the singularity.'' He added, incoherently mumbling his words.

Iris gently pushed him back on the bed under the look of the doctor.

''The singularity was 7 months ago dad, Barry's…he's at the labs. Rest, the doctor will take care of you..''

That wasn't exactly a lie. She just couldn't bring herself to go into that territory and tell Barry was fine. Her heart was having a hard time keeping up. From fearing the worst to going to the happiest moment of seeing her dad awake and now this? The doctors warned her about possible memories problem and confusion, but witnessing it was troubling to say the least.

The second time Joe woke up was pretty much the same, confused, asking questions about the singularity. Iris sat through it all and didn't leave his side all afternoon. She only got up ten minutes to go grab something to eat as quickly as she could. By the time she walked back into the room, she got greeted by the clear, opened eyes of her dad, not a single trace of confusion left in his face.

''Hey baby'' he simply stated, smiling at his daughter.

''Dad! How are you?'' She covered the distance between the door and the bed in a second. ''How are you feeling? Want me to call the doctor?''

Joe seemed to consider it for a moment before answering: ''Head hurts, arm. Iris, what happened?''

Iris bit her lips, wishing Jay stayed with her to tell the news instead of going back to the labs to see if he could be of any help.

''What's the last thing you remember?''

Joe turned his head, looking at the ceiling, closing his eyes tightly when the light hurt them. His mind trying to get clear enough to remember exactly how he ended in the hospital with an arm in plaster and bandages around his chest and head.

''I'm not exactly sure. I think I was with Jay and we were searching for something, can't put my finger on it.'' Joe rose his unhurt arm to his forehead, rubbing it as he was trying to remember the details of that night.

''Do you remember what happened before that? At the labs?''

The ambience of the room was getting more and more uncomfortable, Iris was unconsciously playing with her fingers. Her dad wasn't a detective for nothing, even in his state he could feel, see, something wasn't right. His vitals on the monitors slowly alarming themselves.

''What aren't you telling me? What …''

All the sudden, like a deficient videotape, Joe paused in mid-sentence, struck by a memory.

''Barry! Oh my god, we were looking for him weren't we? Where is he?'' Joe was already struggling to get out of bed, his vitals rising in panic, his voice tone rising loud enough to alert the hospital staff in the hallway.

''Dad! You need to calm down.'' quickly interrupted Iris, pushing gently but firmly her dad back into the bed. Her heart tightening up from the panic face in front of her. ''Just lie down and I'll tell you everything.''

She turned around to meet hospital staff and the doctor entering the room, ready to sedate the agitated patient if it was needed. Iris faced them, arm risen.

''It's ok, let me handle it. He's just remembering the accident that brought him here. ''

The doctor looked unsure at first, alternating his glance between the young girl and his patient before nodding at his staff to return to their tasks. ''You have five minutes and I'll come back to see my patient.'' Iris nodded gratefully and returned on attention on her wounded father.

Seeing the scene he was creating, Joe sunk back on the pillow, but not without looking closely at his daughter, fearing the worst, waiting for an update. Once they finally were alone again in the room, Iris took back her sitting place in the chair, taking one deep breath.

''He's dead, isn't he?'' whispered Joe, fear paralysing his voice.

''What? No! Dad, Jay and...'' Iris paused before she could say Wells' name. It probably wasn't a good idea at the moment, one revelation at the time. ''Jay was able to take Barry out before the explosion. He's at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin and Cisco are with him now.''

''You promise?'' Iris nodded, smiling, making Joe sigh in relief. ''I need to see him. Now.''

Before he could try putting on another stunt, Iris was on his case again, bringing back her hand on the uninjured shoulder.

''Calm down before the doctor sedates you. I'm not going to stop him this time. You need to rest, you're not going anywhere.''

''Please baby girl, I have to see him. How bad is he? Let me talk to him. That kid must be worried sick about me. How long since you guys got him out?''

Just when the journalist thought she was out of the wood, here came the next painful question. Yeah he was alive, but last she spoke with Caitlin, he wasn't exactly up and about or ready to go out for a run. Joe picked on the hesitation and frowned. Here goes nothing.

''The rescue took place almost two days ago and Barry hasn't woken up yet.'' She finally said, her eyes looking toward the ground for a moment so she wouldn't have to face the worry exploding in her dad's face.

''What? What do you mean he's hasn't woken up yet? What's wrong? Why hasn't he healed already?! ''

That was gonna be a long night. Iris did her best to describe the injuries and condition of Barry from everything Caitlin told her with all their conversations, watching with guilt her father's face lose more colors with every word she was saying.

''You can't do him any good right now, just rest 'til the morning. I promise we'll go at the labs first thing. '' She firmly concluded.

Joe nodded. It took less convincing than predicted. But, after all, Joe was a wise man. Maybe the reaction would've been different if Iris had told him that Barry's infection and temperature both kept on worse during the whole day. Now that she was relieved Joe was out of the danger's zone, she was getting in a hurry to get to Barry's side.

She stepped out of the room to let the doctor makes his check up and once she was assured Joe will be good to get home tomorrow under conditions, she went to pay a visit to the speedster.

The moment Iris entered the labs, she found Caitlin working none-stop to stabilize her friend. It was getting beyond frustrating that most of the superficial wounds have been almost all healed by now, but his heart and infection were going nowhere. His temperature hitting a new high of 104,3 . A long night awaited everyone.

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

 _*I'm alive?*_ was the first thought that came when consciousness returned to Barry. He was really expecting to die the last time he went under. When was that? Minutes ago? Hours? Days? He couldn't tell, everything was confused and lost in the dark surrounding him, in the pain, in the heat. Heat was the second thing striking him. He could still feel, in his mixed-up memories, the numbing cold, but now it was like his captor had turned on the heat 'til the speedster was roasted. His body felt like it was on fire, he needed to escape that heat. Fighting against the pain, Barry made two surprising discoveries, two big changes since the last time he was in the world of the living.

First of all, the CSI noticed he was lying flat on something, on some sort of table maybe? Even if he had to admit it wasn't something cold and hard, but more like a comfortable, smooth, surface.

Second observation; there was nothing tying his wrists with whatever the hell he was on. His tired and sick mind couldn't figure this out, couldn't connect the point. What was happening? Was that a trap? Or his captor figured he was too weak to try any more escape? Unless she just transported him there and he would be all tied up in a minute or so. Barry gave up on daring to hope for a chance of escaping, but there it was, a chance to do so.

He tried moving his limbs, a paralyzing pain appeared in his right leg, spreading all over, making him let go of an unwanted grunt of pain. The second the sound came out of his mouth, he heard footsteps coming his way. _Come on Barry, you can do this_ he thought to himself. One well-placed hit and he could knock his captor out hard enough to try to get away.

* * *

 **A/N: Don't be shy! Leave a comment**


	13. Awakening

Barry could hear talking, feminine voice saying something to him, something he couldn't quite comprehend. Maybe it was because of the buzzing in his ears, the fog in his mind or just the staggering pain in his leg. Unless it was the feeling that his heart was being crushed, like there was someone sitting on his chest? He made all the efforts in the world to keep the pain to himself and stay as still and silent as possible, acting like he was still unconscious.

A gentle touch appeared on his unhurt shoulder, even with his fuzzy mind Barry could still feel the woman's face getting closer to him. That was it! Barry felt the Speedforce in his system, it was weak and uneven but there. He connected to it for the split second he needed it, quickly raising his left arm and landing a hit, connecting with delicate skin. He heard a scream of surprise and pain as the figure moved away, stumbling, before hitting the ground with a thud.

Seizing his chance, Barry rolled his heavy body to the opposite side of the bed, feeling needles getting out of his arms and nasal cannula tearing themselves out of his nose. Barry tried, he really did, to open his eyes and get off the bed on his feet, but the second he put his right leg on the ground and added his body weight on it, pain exploded from his thigh and he awkwardly fell on the ground.

As if the pain wasn't enough, within seconds his chest felt a lot more heavier than when he woke up and his heart started to hurt. His eyes were too heavy to open, despite all the effort he made to call up energy. He only ended breathless, his body couldn't find enough air to answer to the task. He found himself as much an easy target than when he was still on the bed, his back mostly against the bed, his eyes closed, unable to get up and move.

Barry heard more voices calling from far away. The woman was working with others? All hope of ever getting free faded away.

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

''Joe! So great to see you up and around!'' cheerfully started Cisco, greeting Joe and Iris at the elevator.

''Good to see you too, Cisco.''

Joe couldn't help but smile at the warm welcome as he slowly got out of the elevator, one step after another, supporting himself on the cane that was helping him stay on his feet. His back was killing him, so were his ribs and his head was pounding like a fanfare having a concert in it, but he couldn't care about this now. Iris nodded gratefully at Cisco for holding the door as she was on the other side of her father, hands on his arm, helping him move forward.

''I need to warm you'' Cisco added, leading the way toward the cortex, ''Barry doesn't look too good, but he's mostly better. ''

''What about his heart? Iris told me it's been damaged'' reluctantly inquired Joe, not really wanting to hear the bad news, but wanting to get ready when he'll enter the room.

Cisco stopped walking to look at them.

''He's….he's slowly starting to get better, his healing powers are mostly back. Caitlin thinks that his heart started healing and if we can just keep him still for a day or two he'll be out of the wood. Which shouldn't be too hard if he keeps up his sleeping beauty act. His temperature is still very high, but it's also starting to stabilize. It stayed between 104 and 104,5 all night, it finally stopped rising.''

Despite the fact that the situation could still go bad, hearing Cisco cracks jokes again with the sleeping beauty reference filled Joe with confidence his son was on the mend.

Before they could continue, Caitlin's scream surprised them all, followed by a loud sound, all coming from the cortex. Their heart jumping in their throat with dread. But it couldn't be, Amelia died, Joe made sure of it. Cisco ran ahead of them, taking one quick look at the empty, messed up bed and Caitlin on the ground, pumping herself on her shoulder, her other hand going to her already reddening cheek.

''Caitlin! What happened? Where's Barry?'' hurriedly asked Cisco in a panicked voice, kneeling next to his friend, scanning for any signs of other injuries or blood on the doctor.

The poor girl looked out of it, whatever or whoever hit her was probably making her see stars now. Iris hastened to the scene, hurriedly maneuvering her dad toward the closest chair, naively hoping he would stay put for a second or two. At least she tried running to the scene; halfway there she heard her father's voice booming:

''You! You did this! How the hell did you survive?!''

Iris and Cisco both turned around, letting the sound steal their attention for a moment, only to witness Wells walking into the cortex, probably following Caitlin's scream like the rest of them, and Joe struggling to get up. Oh crap!

''Dad! Stop! It's not him, it's not Eobard!'' Iris screamed, running back to her father.

''What did you do to my son?'' continued Joe, anger consuming him. First Amelia taking, torturing Barry and now, Wells coming back and taking him too?

Joe's daughter came between her father and Wells, trying at the same time to keep them both separated and hoping to keep Joe from straining himself.

''Dad!'' she repeated. ''This guy is from the same Earth than Jay. He's not who you think he is. He saved Barry's life, twice!'' Iris added, glaring at Harry in a _*Mind helping me there?*_ way as he just stared at them silently.

Cisco was mentally arguing with himself on whether he should go help or stay with Caitlin 'til he saw Jay rushed into the room and give a hand to Iris.''She's right, detective. That man's from my world.'' he added.

During all the commotion, nobody except Cisco noticed Caitlin slowly coming back to her senses, mumbling something about Barry and pointing behind her. That's when Cisco finally heard it, heavy breathing, venting from the other side of the bed.

''You're ok?'' He asked Caitlin who nodded, still scrubbing her painful cheek. Squeezing her shoulder in reassurance before moving to the other side of the bed, his eyes finally landed on the final pieces of the puzzle of what just happened there.

There it was, Barry sitting, collapsed, against the other side of the bed, hidden from the view outside the room. While his eyes were closed, it was clear he wasn't exactly unconscious. Barry's form was tensed, his head turning weakly, yet sort of violently, from one side to another, his eyes moving under his eyelids, incontrollable tremors spreading through his whole body every time he tried to move away. So much for keeping him calm and resting. If Barry didn't calm down soon, this could become dangerous considering his precocious condition.

''I found Barry!'' He announced as loudly as he could before lowering his tone, directing it as his friend. ''Hey man, it's me, you're safe now.''

Desperately wanting to calm his friend down, Cisco kneeled next to him, trying to ignore the increasing tension in Barry's body as he closed in the distance separating them. The second Cisco's hand came in contact with his arm, Barry's difficult breathing pace increased, his face contorting in fear and pain. Cisco took his hand off as quick as he could, not wanting to aggravate the already dangerous situation, the heavy breathing sound burning his ears.

Before Cisco could say or do anything else, Iris and Joe both joined him on this side of the bed, taking place on each side of the young speedster.

''We need to calm him down. Now'' Urgently instructed Cisco.

Nodding in understanding, Joe grabbed his son's hand in the gentlest way possible, softly speaking to his son.

''Hey Barr, you're at S.T.A.R. Labs, you're ok. Open your eyes for me, Barr.''

Iris simply put her own hand on Barry's other arm, trying to be as comforting as possible.

''You're safe Barry, come back to us. Come back to me.'' She simply said, her voice shaking with fear as Barry kept struggling against their touch. It seemed to work since slowly but surely, his breathing slowed down and his eyelids started opening, inch by inch. He seemed to finally get on the right path to relax and start catching his breath.

''That's it Barr, keep going. You with us?''

Barry stared at him with confusion in his eyes, frowning, trying to put the pieces together. How did he end up there? His head turning slowly from Joe to Iris and from Iris to Joe.

''Barry, can you hear us?'' Apprehensively asked Iris.

Looked for a second like he was finally looking ready to talk, but his breath started to become shorter and faster. Removing his hand from Joe's grasp, Barry put it against his heart, opening and closing his fingers as he was trying to grab his own heart and tear it out of his chest. His eyes blinking rapidly as he looked straight into Iris' eyes. The young woman could see the call for help, the panic in his eyes as Barry struggles to breathe increased with each second. Iris frantically looked around in terror, desperately looking for help.

''Caitlin! Help!''

The young doctor finally found the strength to get back on her feet, rushing at Barry's side, pushing Iris out of the way. All pain and disorientation forgotten.

''Oh my god, he's going in cardiac arrest. Put him on the bed, NOW! Someone brings the crash cart!''

Barry was rapidly losing his battle to stay conscious, going under again, losing himself in the emergency of the moment. Joe got himself out of the way to allow Jay and Cisco to grab the speedster' arms and put him back on the bed, not caring at the moment about his injuries or any pain they would be causing. In the seconds the transport took, Barry went completely limp in their arms and his breathing was cut. Cisco and Jay exchanged panicked look at they finished their task.

They barely had time to lay him flat on the bed that Caitlin was connecting back all the monitors, only to confirm her diagnosis; the speedster' heart had indeed stop again. Without wasting any second, she started doing compression, duplicating the scene at the explosion site when Jay and Wells first took him back.

Cisco took the crash cart next to the bed, gratefully looking at Jay who was pushing everyone far from the bed, letting the young doctor work. Iris was already crying, putting her head on her father's shoulder, forgetting in the moment Joe was having trouble to keep his own weight upright, but he didn't seem to care at the moment, oblivious to everything except his son coding in front of him.

''Come on Barry, don't be so stubborn!'' Screamed Caitlin, doing the first set of compressions while Cisco was already placing the bag mask in place and getting the defibrillator pads ready.

Joe felt like the heart monitor alarm was piercing his ears, making him feel numb. He couldn't detach his eyes from what was happening in front of him, but he could barely make out a single word that were being spoken, as he was watching the whole scene from another dimension, from outside his body. Everything was surreal. He came there to see his stable and improving son, not watch him on the verge of dying again.

By the time his mind connected back with the rest of his body, Iris was shaking badly by his side while Cisco and Caitlin looked like they were barely holding it together.

''Dammit to hell!'' sweared Cisco as he watched Caitlin finished another unsuccessful round of compressions. ''He's been out of 5 minutes!''

''I know! I know!'' Irritably answered the doctor. ''Just ventilate again .''

By the time Caitlin started compressions again, she winced when she heard a crack under her palms. That was going to be painful once the speedster wakes up, because he was going to.

''Charge it to 400! Clear!''

Everyone kept their breath as they've been at every discharge for the last couple of minutes. The flat line on the monitor transformed into one heartbeat, and another, and another. Everyone finally releasing their breath at the same time.

Joe started stumbling, bringing Iris back to reality in an instant, going from supporting herself to support her father, all the way to the closest chair. The chair that just happened to be the one next to the bed. Joe slowly, shakily, reached for his son's arm, needing to feel him again. It's been one hell of a week. Even if she needed the space to work on her patient, Caitlin didn't say anything and worked around Joe's sitting form to connect back all the remaining medical equipment and medication while Cisco was helping cleaning the mess.

It was only when she was halfway in her work that the doctor noticed that everyone was still close to the doctor, watching every move, even Wells.

''He's ok now and probably not gonna wake up for hours. You guys should go rest a bit.''

Everyone else, except Joe gave the doctor the room, even if Iris only left to sit in the cortex, where she still had her father and Barry on sight. Caitlin finished her examination making sure her patient was stable again. If Barry could stay still and calm for a couple of days, they might just make it out of the wood.

* * *

 **A/N: Leave a comment!**

 **And aawwww, you're going to make me blush with your great comments. I'll try my best to have another chapter for the next weekend**


	14. Back to stay

Unsurprisingly, Joe went against his doctor and Caitlin's advices by staying by Barry's side and not take the rest his body wanted. The event of earlier terrified him a lot more than Joe was willing to admit.

Both Iris and Joe had been sitting on the hero's bedside for hours, in a deafening silence, observing any changes in the young man's face. They agreed with Caitlin that it was probably best if there was as little people as possible in the room, people he knew for a long time, to make sure he would stay calm the next time he would awaken. They didn't have to wait too long for Barry to show signs of waking up. His head slowly started moving from one side to another, his eyelids fluttering. Joe wasted no time grabbing the boy's hand and whispered to him in the same tone he used to take when he was reassuring a young boy in the guest room from a horrible nightmare.

''You can wake up now Barr, you're safe. You're with us? Open your eyes.''

Slowly, very slowly, Barry turned his head toward the voice, his eyes still closed, but his body still tensing up and his heartbeat pace going a tad higher on the monitor.

'It's us Barry.'' Added Iris. ''You're safe, you're ok.''

The hero turned his head toward Iris before returning to Joe, his eyelids starting to lift, letting his foster dad finally get a glimpse of the confused green eyes. The fallen hero opened his mouth like he was trying to say something, but Joe caught him mid-breath.

''Shhhh, stay calm Barry, please. Don't make me go through this again.'' Said Joe, unintentionally tearing up, his mind playing back the morning's scene in a loop.

Despite his state, Barry must've felt something bad happened because he simply stayed still, blinking at the detective, breathing in and out, trying to understand his surroundings.

''Do you know where you are?'' inquired Iris, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer.

Both Iris and Joe watched closely every movement the speedster was doing. Barry turned his head from one side to another, taking everything in before nodding, slightly jumping in surprise at the loud sighs of relief coming out in synch. Iris reached for the hero's hair to play with them fondly while speaking:

''Don't try to talk too much Barry, you've been through a lot. Do you remember waking up earlier?''

The young speedster seemed to think about it deeply before nodding again. The CSI kept his thoughts as short as possible, while raising his right arm to put it against his chest, wincing in pain when his hand met the exact spot Caitlin's hand has been pounding on:

''Happened?''

Joe put on his most reassuring face, not wanting to alarm his son, even if he needed the truth.

''You've….you strained yourself too much and went into cardiac arrest.'' Joe started before moving in, seeing his son's eyes opening widely in shock and fear. ''It's ok, you'll be ok now. Caitlin said you're on your way to recovery.''

 _*Caitlin?*_ Barry squeezed his eyes shut, a memory coming back to him, shaking his head. His whole deal was foggy, lost in cold and pain, but if there was one thing he could remember clearly was his captor telling him nobody was coming, nobody was even searching for him. He was convinced she killed them all. ''Dead. ''

The hero looked at the confusing and the silence spreading around him 'til Joe decided to break it.

''Wandel is dead, she's not going to hurt you. I promise you son, you're safe.''

Barry shook his head with frustration, his breathing accelerating as he was trying to throw his speech as fast as he could. ''No….told me….dead…you….all.''

''Hey hey hey, calm down Barry, please. We're all fine.'' Quickly responded Iris, taking the other hand of the boy in her own. ''Me, dad, Caitlin, Cisco, Jay. We're all ok. We've been worried about you''

The speedster closely looked at her face, forcing his vitals to calm down to a normal range, studying Joe's daughter's features to try to decide if she was saying all of this because it was the truth or telling it to calm him down. His glance moved toward his adoptive dad, that's when he noticed something else for the first time. The bandages. The cast.

''Hurt.'' It was the only word that came out of his mouth. Both people on his bedside tensed at it, Joe's soft features turning into a mixture of fear and panic, already picturing the morning crisis repeating itself. .

''Barr, what is it? Is it your heart? Do we need to call Caitlin?''

''No…'' Barry raised his arm toward Joe. ''You. Hurt.''

It took a moment for the puzzle look of the detective to turn into realization. Classic Barry, kidnapped, badly hurt and unconscious for days and his first clear thoughts and worried being about his family, not about his condition. Joe couldn't help the uncontrollable laugh, stress of the last days coming out.

''I'm fine, Barr.'' He started until realizing in his son's eyes that it wasn't working. ''I *will* be. Rescuing you has been a bit rough. But don't worry, I'll be good as new before you know it. So will you.''

The hero's eyes kept opening and closing at a closer interval, fighting sleep, trying to stay with them 'til he could get all of the questions out of his head. Iris decided it was time to join the conversation.

''Don't fight the sleep, your body needs it. We'll be there when you wake up next.''

Both members of Barry's family watched the young speedster slowly realizing he couldn't win this fight and relaxed back into a peaceful, restful state, both of them having the same huge relief on their face. The speedster was still on the mend and the road ahead was going to be long, well long compare to the healing time he usually needed, but for the first time everything felt right. They felt like everything was finally over.

On the next morning, Caitlin came into the medical lab feeling fresher and more invigorate that she felt all week. The tests she did last night proved their speedster friend was finally on his way to recovery. The broken hand and wrist were completely healed, so were pretty much all of the superficial wounds, leaving no scars, no signs to prove that they ever happened. Even the shoulder's stab wound was almost completely gone. Only his infected wound and heart problems were still keeping the CSI in bed, but both were slowly but surely on their way to be good as new.

The blood tests and the heart scan Caitlin did, first thing in the morning, showed lots of progression compare to the previous day and let's not even compare with the test results of the first day Team Flash brought him back, it was a world of difference. There were barely any traces left of the drugs Barry's been injected with, allowing the speed force to finally come back closer and closer to being at 100% again. And, while he still needed oxygen to compensate for his bad heart, the risk of coding again fell to slight.

The doctor returned to the bed, not wanting to disturb the hero's sleep but knowing she had to complete her checkup. She checked the man's vitals and temperature on the monitors and double checked them by touching the skin. Satisfied, she moved on to the lower part of the bed, taking the blanket off so she could check the wound again.

'Watch the merchandise'' said a raspy and weak voice, making the young doctor turned around, smile spreading on her face the second she saw the open eyes. Even if it was only halfway opened and blinking as Barry was trying to clear his vision.

''Hey'' she answered fondly. ''it's good to hear your voice''

''Same.'' He answered back, smiling at her. ''What are you doing?''

''Just relax, trying to check you over. Try to relax.'' She repeated herself.

''Routine.'' Caitlin couldn't help but chuckle at this. ''Yeah well, how about we break that habit?''

He grumbled under his breath, closing his eyes again. His mood sure seemed to be up, their Barry was definitely back. A normal day in S.T.A.R. Labs. Everyone was finally going to be able to catch their missing sleep. As soon as Caitlin started probing the wound, she winced in sympathy, hearing the groan of pain. The wound was free of pus and while the skin was still swollen and sensitive, it's been showing great improvement.

''I'm sorry, I need to check your wound. It's been infected for days.''

''It's ok'' he answered clenching his teeth.

Satisfied with her inspection, Caitlin changed the bandage and put the blanket on before turning her attention to her patient who had his eyes closed again, leaving her wondering for a moment if he'd fallen asleep again.

''All good?'' he weakly mumbled, answering the asleep question, keeping his sentences as short as possible.

''You will be'' She nodded without thinking he couldn't see her movement right now. ''Try to stay still. How do you feel?''

''Hot. Thirsty.''

''Yeah, that's because you still have a fever.'' She doubled checked it to be sure. ''It's at 101,5 for now, but it went close to 105 yesterday. You're in the right direction.'' As she was speaking, Caitlin helped the speedster get into a more seated position, pilling pillows under his back, before getting him what he asked for.

''That's good.'' He whispered, sipping his water. ''Caitlin. '' He added, after a pause. ''How long? What day is it?''

Caitlin stopped, hesitant. ''Barry, it's….Saturday. You disappeared one week ago, it took….took us 3 days to find you. You've been here since Tuesday.''

''Three…days?'' The boy's gaze fell into his glass of water. ''Sometimes it felt like I've been there for months, other times it felt like hours.''

''I'm sorry we didn't get to you sooner. We tried our best''

''Know you did. Not blaming you. How bad is it?'' He asked, it must've been pretty bad for him to stay down for so long, considering his powers.

The doctor actually considered her answer for a moment before going for the truth: ''It was really touch and go for a while. We weren't sure you were going to make it for the first 48 hours.''

She carefully studied her friend's features as she was saying the words. The last thing she wanted was to make the speedster feel bad or strain himself, but he was his friend, he deserved the truth.

''I'm really sorry I alarmed you.'' Barry said quietly

''Hey, don't start with it. You're my friend, all that matter is that you're ok'' Caitlin quickly interrupted him. Seeing that Barry didn't have anything to offer in return, she smiled and concluded ''I'm going to let you rest. Sleep. You deserve it.''

Caitlin started walking away, but was interrupted halfway through the door.

''Caitlin…thanks for saving my life.'' The girl smiled and simply nodded. What else was she supposed to do?

''You're welcome.'' She finally decided to say before turning her back, leaving the room and closing the light on her way out.

It took another full day for Barry's fever to finally break and return to something normal and another one before the boy could finally get up on his shaking legs, promising to wait a little before running again. The memories of his kidnapping and the days before and after had been incredibly foggy at first and while some came back there and there, most of them stayed out of his reach. From what he could gather from his initial injuries' list, it was probably for the best.

They still waited another full day before introducing Barry to this new Wells, an introduction that went surprisingly well. Everyone was apprehensive, slowly, carefully approaching the situation, explaining where that new Wells was from and how he saved his life, twice, in the last couple of days. Maybe Iris's speech about giving Jay a chance to prove himself was still resonating. That or Barry's mind was simply too preoccupied by something, or someone else.

It wasn't too hard for a CSI, raised by a detective, to notice Cisco's been doing his best to avoid him since he woke up. On the first day, he was too busy going in and out of consciousness, sleeping off his injuries and fatigue, to note that it was always Caitlin, Iris, Joe and sometimes even Jay staying by his side. Everyone, except Cisco, was there, making sure there always was someone by his side to take care of all his needs and make sure he knew he wasn't alone, that he was safe. Barry got a couple of glimpses and some very short exchange with his best friend from time to time, but there was no mistaking the lack of energy and the awkwardness of his interactions with Cisco.

Barry's been trying to sleep for the past two hours since getting his first introduction to this new Wells. He's been shifting none-stop in his bed, unable to get any rest, no matter the position he was adopting. His body might still need some rest and recuperation, but his mind wasn't going to let that happen. Giving up on that idea, Barry finally slipped his legs over the bed's side, suddenly determined to fix what's been eating his mind.

Wearing his signature sweatpants and S.T.A.R. Labs shirt, the hero slowly penetrated into his friend's lab, finding Cisco working, just like Barry thought he would be. He approached his friend as careful as he could, watching Cisco's back tensed when he understood he wasn't alone in the labs, but not turning back. Barry positioned himself in the chair behind his friend and waited for him to turn around, which he finally did, realizing Barry wasn't going anywhere.

''Hey man, it's great you're awake and alert.'' Cisco started, trying to sound as normal as he could, which might have passed with anyone else, but not with his best friend who knew him too well.

''Cisco? What's wrong?'' Barry cut right to the chase.

''Everything is …'' he couldn't even finish his sentence that he read in his friend's face that Barry wasn't going to believe his words and he might as well cut the crap. Resigned, he sighed and complied. ''I know I've been distant, bro. It's not you. I'm really am glad you're awake and feeling better. ''

''Look man, I know it's been a hard week, Caitlin told me about it, but I'm ok now. You don't have to worry anymore.''

''It's not that. It's just…'' Cisco lowered his head just enough to avoid eye contact. ''It's my fault if you got taken in the first place, I shouldn't have left you all alone at the bar that night. Nothing of that would've happened.''

''Come on, Cisco. You can't do this to yourself. There's no way you could've known what this guy was planning to do. Or even assumed he knew who I was. Not to mention she could've killed you on sight. ''

''I know. I just can't help but think it's our job to protect you and we failed, I failed and you almost died.''

''Cisco, you can't protect me from everything. Might as well be hit by a bus tomorrow, it's life. I can look after myself. You can't always protect me.''

''You would need quite a fast bus for that to happen.'' Cisco added with a smile at the corner of his lips. Barry couldn't help but chuckle at it.

''You know what I mean. Come on, give me a hug.'' Barry answered, getting up and closing the gap between the two of them. It didn't take too long for the young engineer to take on the invitation, getting up and closing his arms around the speedster, both of them coming to a silent agreement.

 *****FLASHFLASHFLASH*****

In the following days, Barry just kept on going better and stronger, finally returning in the streets, making sure the criminals and citizen of Central City knew their hero was still around and wasn't going anywhere. One of the first thing Barry did once his powers returned has been to ensure his doppelganger finally made it home, back on Earth 2.0, where his friends and family could bury him.

Slowly but surely, more memories of everything he endured came back to him, especially when he was asleep. Even if he knew he should hate the woman who did all of this to him, part of Barry just felt sorry for her. She might have been crazy and out of control, she was also consumed by fear, dreading the future for her and the people she cared about. Was that Zoom character anywhere as dangerous as she said, scary enough to make people desperate enough to do this kind of thing? Barry couldn't help himself but wonder, especially in the middle of the night after waking up from another nightmare from these couple of days, how far he would be ready to go to save his friends, his family, shivering at the thought.

Returning in the streets, feeling the power rushing through his whole body, feeling the wind, the ground under his feet….everything felt just as good as he remembered, maybe even better. He may have yet to face Zoom for the first time, but Barry was determined to take him down no matter how long and bumpy the road was going to be.

The Flash was back and he was there to stay,

 **THE END!**

* * *

 **Final author's note: When I started this adventure 6 months ago (4 ½ since I published my first chapter), I never thought it would be 14 chapters and 30 000 words (!) long! To be fair, starting my first Flash fiction and my first fiction in English (my 2** **nd** **language), I wasn't even sure I would write it all. Can't say how amazing you guys have been for staying with me from start to finish. You are the reason I stayed motivated enough to see this through.**

 **So….THANK YOU(!) To all of you. Especially RedQ for all the support and the help you gave me. Hopefully you guys will jump on the train with me with my new long adventure that's coming up really soon.**

 **Don't be shy to leave one final comment.**


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